The Story of the Fifth Member
by HLY66
Summary: After fifteen years, Simone has finally reunited with her brother Murdoc. Will she cope with being with her new family and stay in love with the man of her dreams... whilst being reported missing by a paranoid police officer? REMINDER: RATED T FROM PROLOGUE TO CHAPTER 5!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

I wasn't nervous, I never was; don't know why I'm taking deep breaths all the time, everyone behind me was wishing me luck and giving me words of courage, of course I'm famous and the guys with me are too, we're a band by the way. I was going to take part in a very long interview about my whole life and stuff and explaining about the reason why I walk around a lot with a video camera.

I was standing outside the door waiting, waiting as if nothing was happening at all, the only things I ever heard were the voices of these two guys preparing for this interview, my own breathing, my heart beat (sorry I lied, I _was_ nervous). All the memories trapped in my brain were just waiting to be told, except the most embarrassing moments and all that, I was thinking what might happen during this just as I was pulling my phone out of my pocket and putting it on silent in case one of the guys rung me up for a laugh, I'm saying 'guys' because in our band there's five of us: three men and me and this other girl from Japan, she was my best friend since the day I came and….him. I couldn't wait any longer; I might get pins and needles in my right foot if those interviewers take forever preparing the questions or trying to sort out a technical problem with the tape recorder.

After two minutes, I was allowed in hearing four whispers of good luck (and one in Japanese for extra). It was in the audition room in our HQ – I'm not even thinking about giving it away – there was my chair with my name on, like the ones a film director sits on in Hollywood. There were two men sitting in front of me, one of them was holding a notebook and the other was in charge of the tape recorder. They offered me some water and we were ready, then they pressed the play button and started off with the first question.

By the way, I'm not actually here to give you the whole interview transcript, seeing as it went on for a good hour and a half. I'm just going to tell you everything that had happened in the past and how I got into this band – **Gorillaz**.


	2. Once Upon A Time Doesn't Exist Anymore

**Chapter 1: Once Upon A Time Doesn't Exist Anymore**

Before I start the story off, I have to say that all swear words or any names that sound far from mean will be of course censored. I will put the first letter in so you don't have to keep guessing. I don't swear myself because I'm sensible. So, moving right along

My name is Simone, born May 14th 1986. I can't believe what Mum did to me then; she abandoned and dumped me at this house when I was seven years old. This was all in 1993; I think this man living here is supposed to be my 'biological' father, which was true, his name was Sebastian Niccals who works at the bar weekly and is a chain smoker (I'm not called Niccals cos 'she' _was _one of his girlfriends). I was dumped on his doorstep and was left there, after two hours of just sitting there; he opens the door, grabs me by the wrist and drags me upstairs to the spare room which looked pretty disgusting to me. It was all small, it smelt unpleasant and there was no bed at all, so I had to spend the night sleeping on the horrid floor with squashed cigarettes and chewing gum on it.

I found that Dad had two sons called Hannibal and Murdoc; they were almost like gothic names or something. They both smoked and drank and are probably about twenty - seven and thirty - two (That's my guess). Hannibal never really took any notice of me, luckily he never knew that fact that I was the only girl and I had dark brown long frizzy hair which even_ I_ don't like. Murdoc was the best even though he can be a bit moody at times, even when Dad never gave me food and always kept me locked in my room, Murdoc would slip a note through the door saying that he would get me something to eat after college when Dad was not around, and he does. Because he couldn't open the door and give them to me – well, he doesn't know where the key is - he goes out into the back garden and I would open my window and he would throw them up to me. This time, he got me two boxes of cereal, twenty - four bottles of Coca Cola in a pack (which was only a pound), a large bag full of Walkers crisps and two large tubs of ice cream (with a spoon which he stole from his colleges' canteen taped on one of them). All the treats a young girl can have. Murdoc couldn't throw the pack of coke so he got a large rope, threw it to me, tied the other end to the cardboard and I finally got it. But the question was: where was I going to put all the food and rubbish later on? Dad would usually let me out to go outside for fresh air for only four minutes because he was plain lazy to do anything. I found that I had my own en suite toilet which worked well and above it, there was a key on a hook so I can always unlock it, stuff my food in there, lock it up, forget I ever did it and keep it a secret from Dad.

Anyways, about my awesome brother Murdoc, he is a Satanist, he broke his nose a lot of times (that wasn't at all important) and when he grew up he went to this college place and learnt how to play the bass guitar, it looked pretty hard to do but for some reason he was really into it. He used to annoy Hannibal by playing a lot of these rock CD's and because I was next door to his room, he would turn the volume up so I could hear it and would do little dances to the best songs. I started getting into dancing quite a lot. Not stupid ballet or something like that but more hip hop and break dancing, the thing is, street dancing contains a lot of back flips and I've had a slight fear of going upside down because I hate the feeling when you actually do it even with your eyes closed, you don't know if you are up right or giving yourself a head rush. It really scares me.

Dad is stomping up the stairs holding a bottle of cider; I hear a clashing sound as it hit my door (I know all this because I can see through the key hole). I crawl over to the wall where the sound was coming from. A loud bang could be heard over the rock 'n' roll music; I guess Dad kicked the door open. Then I heard him tell Murdoc to turn the volume down in an un-fatherly like way.

'MURDOC TURN THE F*****G VOLUME DOWN OR I'LL BEAT YOU TILL YOU ARE F*****G DEAD!'

There was a lot of cursing after that but I couldn't remember because the last sentence was too incomprehensible. Thank goodness I wasn't in there with him or I would end up with a black eye or a broken bone. For that, he kicked Murdoc into my room and locked it behind him. Hooray, I finally have company because my favourite brother is here. But unfortunately, he wasn't in a good mood at the moment because he was whispering curses because he forgot to bring his cigarettes with him even though he needed one now but he _did_ know that I'm asthmatic. I went to the bathroom and grabbed a bottle of coke and rolled one to Murdoc. Five minutes later, he opened the bottle and completely ignored me until the bottle was half empty and then threw it at the opposite wall. I didn't care because I knew how he was feeling right now.

Finally, he spoke. "So, what are you up to now, sis?"

He always called me that because of course I'm his sister. Actually, he doesn't bother saying my name.

"Don't know really," I said. "Sitting here as always, I wish I could be free and get out of here."

"Same," said Murdoc sarcastically, even though he just got here. "Tell ya what, if I manage to get out of here, I'll find that s*****g key after midnight, unlock the door and you can go home and forget you were ever here."

I don't even care if there is strong language in a conversation between me and someone else because I'm used to it for some reason (thank goodness I take after my mum, she never swears, she's asthmatic like me).

"But I don't have a real home anymore." I said.

"Well, go and live somewhere with a comfy bed and less boring food like the rubbish you're currently living on at the moment."

Murdoc was really encouraging me now and that made me think that enough was enough. I was going to run away from not- real home and start again, I've only been here for about two weeks and two days, I guess. Anyway, we made the deal that I was getting out at midnight. Dad opens the door and we start to act normal pretending we never spoke (he even ignored the bottles lying around).

"Ok son, get out of there and remember what will happen next if you do that again."

"Yeah, Dad." said Murdoc, in his boring mood again.

Why is he always thinking that Murdoc is like a complicated kid?

"I'm off to the pub, you coming?" asked Dad.

"Not in the mood." Murdoc replied, slamming his bedroom door shut.

I stood up and walked around the room after the door was locked, I was excited to get out at last and to hear the door lock for the last time but the thing is; I'll never see Murdoc again.

The house was completely dark. Dad had been at the pub for hours so it took Murdoc a lot of time to finally find the key. When he opened the door, he found me asleep against the wall where we last spoke. I automatically woke up because I knew what was coming next. Murdoc lead me to the staircase trying not to wake Hannibal (he hadn't slept in a week). It felt like two seconds until we reached the front door, I opened it and breathed in the fresh night air. I was about to step out when Murdoc suddenly stopped me.

"Before you go, sis," he said. "I want you have this."

He gave me a chain with a pendent of a raven on it. Murdoc loved ravens; I think it is because of its wing size or the look of them.

"Why are you letting me have it?" I asked, unsure about this.

"Well," said Murdoc. "It's to really show that I'm your favourite brother as you always called me."

I can't believe what he just said to me, he already knew, awesome. Even though he finds it stupid, he gave me a brother like hug and told me to go ahead and be strong. So then, I started to walk away from the house thinking about the future ahead. I looked carefully at the raven pendant. It was black with lots of 3D detail on it, everytime I looked at it; I will always remember Murdoc in that way. But I got a bit worried, in future what if he completely forgot about me. What if he forgot about giving me the pendant? I didn't want to think about it. I put the chain on without difficulty and carried on. I wanted to prove that I was Murdoc's greatest sister and to get on with what I'm doing now. I turned to wave to him but before I could raise my hand; he had already closed the door. That was the last time I would ever see him.


	3. Fifteen Years of Wishing

**Chapter 2: Fifteen Years of Wishing**

It has been two weeks since I last saw Murdoc; I had left Stoke-on-Trent (where we lived) and had been walking for a long time. Two weeks has gone far already, I always look at the raven pendant every time I feel like it. It made me think Murdoc was here all the time. If only he was able to drive, he could take me somewhere far so I wouldn't have to do this long trek. Everytime I was hungry or tired, I would go into a nearby inn and explain everything, I would walk up to the counter and say to the owner "I'm sorry, but I have no money and I've been walking for a long time and I'm starving and exhausted." This time they chucked me out, horrible people these days, the ones that are never polite to others like me. I didn't know where I was at all but I kept walking. I bet Dad never noticed that I had gone, but what if he unlocked the door to let me out but find there is no one at all? Would he care? Would he ring the police? Would he beat me up if I returned? Would he think that I was dead? I would never know; I hope Murdoc never said anything to him, but I think he would be in his room all day playing his bass guitar and thinking of me.

Whilst I'd come round the corner, I found a police station, I just hope Dad isn't there. The station was quite big, with a load of police and disguised Hyundai cars which were in a large parking lot. I walked inside; I hope they take care of me in there, it was busy as usual, the walls were white, and the sound of ten phones at once was ringing in your ears. I went to sit down, finally a rest. Now I can have some time to think about Murdoc, I just remembered, my birthday is coming up in two days; I'm going to be eight years old. But the sad thing is, no presents, no cake, nothing; it's going to be the worst this year. Murdoc's birthday is on June 6th in 1966, apparently he was born with the sign of the devil. Anyways, as I was sitting there, a policeman and policewoman was discussing and looking at me at different times. Were they wondering why I was here on my own without any adults? The policewoman came up and sat next to me.

"Young lady," she said in a strict way. "Where are your parents? You know you are not allowed in here without an adult supervising you."

I didn't know what to say, should I make up a story? Ok then.

"I was dumped on the street and said they never wanted to see me again and I don't know where to go," Now I'm going to tell the true part. "Now I'm a starving, exhausted nearly eight year old girl with no home."

That suddenly got a tear from her eye. What a loser.

"Steven, come here one moment, we need to talk," she called.

The policeman named Steven came and they had yet another discussion about where they were going to put me now.

"What is your name, sweetheart?" the policewoman asked, I had really changed her mood today.

"Simone Hathaway." I said, pretending to be upset.

They have to take me to a place to stay, if I like it I could stay for years to come and have a brilliant life, but I must never forget about Murdoc, I'll kill myself if I do but he has a different life to me. He would keep playing the bass guitar all he wants – he told me that he did a one night only concert somewhere and now he is thinking of making a band or something – and would keep annoying Hannibal with his music (even though he likes it punk style which is odd to me).

"Ok then Simone," says Steven, after the discussion died down. "Come with me."

I followed Steven along loads of corridors hearing the sounds of high heels and the screams of drunken men being forced into their cells. I was too busy fiddling with the pendant then I noticed something weird on top of the raven's head, it was a locket of some sort. I bet it is the sort that has nothing inside when you opened it; I think I better check later because I have to see where I'm going.

Steven unlocked a door where it showed a room with a bed with a thin white duvet and pillow, a tiny desk with a small stool and one of those special tables in hospitals that you put your food on and all that. "This is where you will be living until you are old enough to look after yourself." said Steven. I bet I have to stay here until I'm a teenager or something. "How long am I here for?" I asked, pretending to be anxious and putting down the drawstring bag Murdoc gave me on the bed. "Probably until you turn twenty or over," predicted Steven, as he left the room and locked the door. I'M IN HERE FOR FIFTEEN YEARS!? That is going to be a long, long time. That means, I could be going to school again and having to go to college and maybe, I could pass a driving test and see Murdoc again.

I had just reminded myself about the pendant; I found out that it _was_ a locket. I took it off and looked at it. I haven't seen the raven in days. I managed to open it and then slowly lifted the top half up. There was a photo in there; I couldn't believe my eyes from what I was seeing. It was a photo of me and Murdoc. It was taken secretly when I was allowed to go outside for the four minutes. We had our heads together and I was hugging him. On the lid, it showed a message written in Murdoc's handwriting which said 'Remove photo to reveal secret'. I did as the instruction said; I placed the photo carefully on my lap and underneath the frame was a medium sized piece of folded paper. It was a note from Murdoc, he must have written it on the day I was going to leave, and this is what it said:

_Hey sis,_

_I'm sorry you're leaving. I hope you managed to find that paper in the raven, all I'm telling you is that you are one of the greats and had been the best sister, the reason why I gave you all that junk food before is because you are so young and I didn't want you to have a horrible life like when I got bullied in school and got myself a broken nose during a fight with them and I didn't want my b****** father to hurt you as well. By the way, I'm thinking about starting a band soon and we are going to get a load of money that you can dump in a swimming pool and swim in. I really should have drove you to somewhere so you wouldn't have to walk but Dad wouldn't allow me to drive cos the engine almost blew up from crashing the car. I really miss you and I hope you have a happier life and there is a chance that we might see each other again in future if possible. _

_From your brother Murdoc_

_P.S. I will never forget who you are; you will always be the same Simone Kelly Hathaway I've known. _

By the way, Kelly is my middle name. The note almost made me cry (even though I didn't know how to), I couldn't make noise because I heard someone walk down the corridor. Who will it be this time, Steven or the guards? Or even the cook cos I'm starving and haven't eaten a proper meal in a while. I put the note and photo away safely and put the pendant back on. The door was then unlocked. Guess who comes through, the cook. She carried a large silver dish that they would use in restaurants and put it onto my table.

"Officer Steven has told me all about you," she said, talking to me as if I was three. "You must be starving hungry after that long trek of yours."

She went to get the other two dishes and a glass of water and left without saying another word. When the door was locked, I held my knife and fork in one hand and lifted the lid of the first dish in the other. It was roast dinner; the smell of the gravy, the Yorkshire puddings, the spuds, mashed potato, and meat (yuck). I would never touch a bit of meat if someone asked me to, so I'm avoiding red and white meat from then and now. I ate every bit of it (except the steak and stuffing which turned out to be pork) until it was clean. The second dish was my all time favourite, Tomato soup. It was too hot so I left it for a moment or two.

I then started thinking about Murdoc over and over again and predicting what he would be like in the future ahead. I wondered around my room thinking about my brother, will he look the same? Will he recognise me if we ever did meet? I sat at the desk and was deep in thought. I miss him so much, if only I had a photo album of everything of me and him. I looked at the old desk, feeling the old wood with the tip of my index finger until it touched something below that was metal, it was a drawer handle. I opened it slowly, checking the door wasn't going to open again. I hope there wasn't going to be any spiders or anything in it. But no, I was wrong. Inside, there was a small sketch book and a silver pencil case was next to it. It must have been a previous child who had left it here or even abandoned it. I think they never touched it because the pencil was never used or even the eraser. I picked it up and flicked through the pages, it wasn't used either, but there were some torn out pages which means that it was used by _someone_. There was no name written on it or anything, just a plain sketch book.

I'll have a look at it later, I thought as I went back to my soup bowl. It wasn't that bad so I swallowed it down. Finally, the last dish was a pudding and guess what it was? It was a slice of Victorian Sponge cake. I haven't had this in years! I always eat the layer with the least cream and jam cos the part with the most on was the best bit. It was a bit hard but I didn't care. I was a bit stuffed and couldn't eat half of the last layer so I scraped all the filling off and licked it off my spoon. Now with the whole meal aside, I went back to get the sketch book. I sat down at the desk and thought about what I was going to draw first, when I was still in primary school aged five, I had an amazing gift, we all had to draw our teacher and I did a portrait of him whilst he was marking work and when I showed him he fainted and everyone called me 'popular' but sadly aged seven, I was no longer popular because I had left school to go and live with Dad. Because we were young then, everytime someone leaves the school, we all forget about them and sometimes don't recognise them when they visit a few years later. I can try drawing Murdoc not by using the photo in the pendant but what he looked like since the last time I saw him. I started to draw, doing the eyes first, then hair, then his face and then his shoulders. I _haven't_ made one mistake. There was no dodgy parts, it was accurate and I saw Murdoc once again (on a piece of paper though). I then started drawing myself because I thought that when I'm an adult, I'm going to change and look different and I could always look back at myself from a few years ago. After ten minutes, I wrote above 'Before' for a title.

27th June 1996: **Aged 10**

I'm home-schooled here. A private teacher comes in 5 days a week for four hours. The routine is Monday is English, Tuesday is Maths, Wednesday is Science, Thursday is Languages (I have learnt French, Spanish, Japanese – my chosen language, and Sign language) Friday is History and Saturday and Sunday is doing homework. I'm the only child here so I get to concentrate more. I actually have a bit of difficulty making friends but me and Murdoc are almost like close friends even though we are brother and sister, the reason is, I was diagnosed with autism when I was three years old. I pretended to listen when the teacher gave me tips on actually making friends but I didn't want to because if you did they would follow you around and would end up coming to find you every day and wouldn't leave you alone. That's what I hated about life. I've just found out where I am. I'm in Staffordshire!

16th March 2000: **Aged 13**

In 1998, everyone was going on and on about this new band that had started. It was called **Gorillaz**. Some of the guards walking along the corridor were humming their songs, even putting the radio on and waiting for their song to come on. On one of the radio stations, one of their albums was album of the week and they were playing each track for the whole week. I would sit by the door and listen to them. There was a man singing and there was guitar, bass and drums and sometimes a bit of rapping. I don't know a lot about them, but I wondered as I went back to bed even though it was lights out at half nine, who were this famous band? How did they get popular in just two years? Wait a minute, was this got to do with Murdoc? Like he said, he was making a band. I didn't bother asking anyone about the members.

4th November 2006: **Aged 20**

I've passed my driving test! Sadly, I wasn't allowed to go anywhere far but I wanted to see Murdoc again. I had just found out that he is forty, looks almost old really; I haven't seen him in thirteen years (that is a lot). Sometimes at the weekend (I'm not taught anymore) Steven would give me money and would allow me to go out for two hours and would ring me to tell me to come back. I would drive into town and get myself anything I wanted, I went to get a new sketch book because the one I found in the desk only had four pages which was not good. I found some books that I found interesting and 'How to draw' books as well. If I was hungry, I wouldn't go to an inn and ask for food. I would go to Macdonald's and order some chips with a strawberry milkshake. One time, when I was walking down the road, I was walking past a skate park and these teenagers asked me if I can skateboard and I said no. I wish I did after I saw skateboarders everywhere. Then one of them grabbed me and pushed me up the ramp and told me to do a skateboard trick or else. They handed me a skateboard which had flames at the bottom of it. I thought of all the tricks they did and then I started. I went down first time and slipped when I was going up the other side. The boys laughed and said that they were giving me two more chances or I will get beaten up (hang on; I thought boys can't hit girls). The second time I went, I did the same thing again. I only had one more chance; I didn't want to get hurt. Suddenly, I had a really weird feeling that I could really do it. I went down the ramp and successfully managed to do about two tricks that I couldn't even do. In just five minutes, I had become a skateboarder. I became part of their gang and would go do some skateboarding every weekend. They became a bit friendly, one of them fancied me but I said I was too old for them because he was about sixteen. He kept chasing and annoying me so I quit. The thing is, I want to get a boyfriend but I don't want one who is years younger than me. I'm only 5'6 so my aim is to find someone who is about six foot or the same height as me. What about that Gorillaz band, maybe they have a hot guy in it. I never had a boyfriend all my life, not even in primary, I should think of some things that this man has and then make a 'to do list' in my mind when we do love each other. I want to have a boyfriend who gives me a hug and a kiss every day, someone who takes me out three times a week or so, someone who will say that he loves me so much, someone who I will never break up with and someone who marries me in future and have a happy life together and no divorce will happen. I was happy with that plan. Then suddenly one day, two years later, my life had completely changed.


	4. The Arrival and The Reunion

**Chapter 3: The Arrival and the Reunion **

On the 15th June 2008, aged twenty-two, I finished drawing the picture of me today and written 'After' as my title. I looked completely different, I was an adult already, and time has gone quick. I looked back at the pictures of my past, my first one was Murdoc, then pictures of me at seven and fifteen years old, I bought some colouring pencils and had made the pictures ten times better, I even had enough money to go and get my hair sorted out, just a quick trim and got it straightened, I look really cool now and I like it. It had been two weeks since I went out and I wanted to go explore the town a bit. I could go somewhere I could sit and do a bit of drawing then I could come back here and do the colouring later. I thought that would be a waste of time because I wouldn't remember which colour goes where. I got my drawstring bag and put everything I owned in it, I put my jacket over it in case someone from behind will steal anything valuable – well it's only my sketch books and equipment inside including my inhaler and my Nokia phone Steven got me last Christmas and not to forget my charger, I don't know _why_ I bring it. I'm wearing my raven pendant still and I look at the photo and note everytime. It was good that Murdoc called me 'one of the greats', it makes me feel special.

After Steven let me out, I walked out the police station thinking that today is going to be the best. I didn't feel like going to any shops so I just went around trying to find a place where I can draw, but there wasn't anywhere good enough to do it. The whole place was full of dull roads, some shops were completely empty, I was too scared to go round the next corner, even though I'm an adult and I can protect myself from anything. Everytime I saw a bar, there was either a fight, people shouting for victory watching a football match, and people who are drunk get too hyper and calling others names as they walked by. No one had spoken a word about the Gorillaz since 2006, I wonder what they were doing now, and even the guards who liked them stopped singing their songs. What was going on?

I walked down a street that was too quiet and messy and really dark, even though it was only 11:15am. I had a really bad feeling that I was watched. There was an alley way coming up and I have to walk past it, I was so scared but I kept it to myself. I promised Murdoc that I would go ahead and be strong. I took a deep breath and continued, nothing happened, that was a relief. But I heard someone walking behind me so I walked quickly but they were catching me up then I started to run like I never did before. I tripped and grazed my left knee but I couldn't get up quickly, two hands grabbed me and started pulling me away, was I being kidnapped? Was this real life? I struggled but he was too strong for me. He was wearing a uniform with a fake ID badge and…. Oh no! I _am_ being kidnapped! The logo on the front said FedEx. He must have got someone else's uniform and is getting away with it. He dragged me to the alley way I had just past and threw me to the ground and with that, someone who was with him was holding down my shoulders firmly and the man that caught me was holding a clipboard and approached me.

"You don't look too bad for delivery material," he said in a Welsh accent.

What does he mean? He grabbed my chin and moved my face violently from left to right as if he was checking for scars.

"You are going for a little ride in the crate," he spat and turned to the man behind me, clicked his fingers and pointed at me. "Laurence, tie her up and get her to Kong Studios in Essex immediately!"

In just two seconds, the strip of duct tape went over my mouth, the rope went round me and my ankles and wrists until they were tied up and I was lifted into a FedEx crate filled with Styrofoam and heard the sound of the nails being hammered down. I hope I don't die in here, I thought. There were holes on top so I was able to breathe fine. Before the crate was lifted into the van, the man said in an evil voice.

"Enjoy the ride." and then he ticked something off his list.

I screamed in horror through the cloth when the doors were closed. What is Kong Studios? Am I going to survive there? The engine started and the van with me inside started to move. I can't believe what is happening to me, somewhere in the next two hours; Steven would be putting up missing posters and going around the whole country looking for me cos he's that paranoid. Ever since I've been living secretly at the police station, he has been acting like I was _his_ child or something. If he _did_ find me, he is bound to ask to adopt me or something; but what about Murdoc? He wouldn't let me leave his sight if we reunited. Why am I in a FedEx crate? If he was making a band (which I think he has made one now and is now officially a celebrity), would he need any more equipment? Would he be looking for another person? If so, why did I get dumped in here in the first place? I hope I do see him again, I just really hope I do.

My watch said 6:54pm. I had just woken up after two hours. There was plenty of space for me so I stretched my legs a bit. The Styrofoam made it really comfortable but there was a weird feeling underneath as if I was sitting on someone's bony lap. I managed to live without using my inhaler thank goodness. I only need to use it if there was a gas such as cigarette smoke or strong spray which disturbs my breathing, four or more sniffs of it and I end up in trouble; I guess I'm just prone to it. What if the people at Kong Studios smoked? Would they allow me to remind them about my condition? Would they be the sort that blew smoke in your face for a laugh and watched you cover your nose or choked? I can't believe I've slept for nearly half a day! I wasn't at all feeling hungry or thirsty; it felt like I ate a big meal before I left the police station AND got kidnapped. Maybe they were delivering as normal but capturing people like this? I could tell that the man with the check list had a fake ID badge; I saw his face when he called me 'delivery material', it had about two scars on his right cheek, and then had a quick glance at the photo of the real employee whilst that Laurence person was tying me up. The rope round my wrists are starting to rub and giving me rope burn, it was my fault really because I was struggling to make it looser so I won't lose the circulation in my hands. I was doing the same with my ankles, this time to get rid of pins and needles. But it wasn't working, I couldn't get out of this mess, I bet that the doors are going to open and they push me down a hill into a river and I would wake up at the police station saying it was dream and I will forget about it. But I wasn't dreaming, continuing to struggle with the ropes and closing my eyes never made a difference. Speaking of dreams, I had one earlier.

_I was in the back garden with Murdoc taking photographs but then he suddenly walked off and turned drunk and as time went by, I slept restlessly because he brought a girl round like he did every day and the next morning, he said he hated me and got Dad to beat me up_.

That was what I feared the most. He needs to remember me, I should've kept the hair the same so that he did, but my face, I changed since I got older and he wouldn't recognise my face, I sighed heavily just thinking of it. As I settled down for a bit, the van suddenly stopped causing my crate to slide backwards and hit the wall hard, I banged my head a bit, I couldn't see after that, I hope I don't get concussion. The doors were opening and there was a loud sound of metal scratching each other as the ramp was pulled down. The last thing I heard after that was small wheels and then the crate tilted up slightly, I dreaded the moment when it was going down the ramp, but there were only small bumps and that was that. Then there was a small squeak as if it were a huge gate then we carried on, we were then going up like we were going up a long hill and after two minutes of climbing, it stopped.

"Laurence," said the Check List man. "Get back in the van; I'll deal with this one."

There was a huge sigh and a "Yes Mick" then the sound of a lighter being lit. Oh no, Laurence was lighting a cigarette, I can't reach for my inhaler, I'm still tied up. But luckily I couldn't smell anything but the fresh air, which had a bit of an earthy scent. I looked up from the holes and the sky was completely black with a bit of stars. Mick banged his fist on something that sounded like a door; every knock I heard vibrated the crate which must be leaning against it.

"Come on, open the door already," I heard him whisper ten seconds after he knocked.

I then imagined the next person getting kidnapped at the same place where they caught me. Then the door slowly opened. I was scared, what if the people at Kong Studios never cared for me? Will they starve me to death? Will I end up becoming a slave or something? Will they keep me in the crate forever and leave me to die? Then I heard Mick speak up.

"Hello there, is this Kong Studios?"

"Yeah it is," said the man at the door, he was speaking in a deep voice and I swear it sounds familiar, could it be….?

"Your delivery has arrived, sorry about it being two days late," said Mick. I think calling him Mick than Check List Man is ten times better.

"Can I get you to sign here…?"

I heard the sound of hands grabbing a clipboard and a pen scribbling a signature.

Then I heard Mick say "Do you need any help at all carrying it in?"

"No mate, I'm fine get lost now." said the man, rudely.

I have heard that voice before, but where?

"Ok mate," said Mick. "I better start making tracks then; call us if there is any mistake."

And he then left and that was the last time I heard from him. I waited ten seconds after I heard the van leave and then started to scream through the cloth. There was silence.

"F*****g zombies these days." said the voice.

I have to wait until I see light from the indoors so I can get everyone's attention (even though I don't know how many people live in Kong Studios).

"Oi, Russ!" the man suddenly shouted. "Give me a hand with this crate will you?"

Finally, I was going to go in. The crate was tilted up once again and then it moved for about five minutes. It felt like we were going through endless corridors, which was true. I looked through the holes on the roof of the crate, and saw light after two or three broken bulbs.

"Man, this is heavy, it's like _someone_ is actually in there." said another voice, this time in an American accent.

Then I randomly let out another scream, making the crate stop.

"What was that noise?" said the American.

"That's what I heard earlier and I thought it was a zombie." said the other man.

"You don't think…" said the American, stopping mid sentence and continued to walk then speaking in a whisper. "That someone could be in this crate?"

"Oh, come on mate, you're overreacting." said the other man.

"I'm being serious, Muds!" said the American.

Where did the name 'Muds' come from? Honestly, it couldn't be… hang on, could it be…Murdoc?

"Well, if I tell the other two about this so - called 'noise'," said 'Muds', sarcastically. "I bet you that they wouldn't hear a soul if it happens again, you must be hearing things, Russ. You do know that this studio is haunted."

Haunted, eh? I like a bit of haunted houses, ghosts, ghouls and evil spirits (only in films). But why mention zombies? My scream never sounded like a zombie to me. I remember the day when Steven allowed me to go to the cinema because I didn't have a TV or DVD player in my room. I saw this zombie film called Dawn of the Dead and it was so wicked, I went to see it again the following weekend. I knew it wouldn't be scary because everyone knows that it's all made up, apparently I heard that in the zombie film called The Night of The Living Dead, they made chocolate sauce as blood because it was filmed in black and white. I never saw it but I looked it up when I had free time to go in the computer rooms where I could spend an hour on. Speaking of which, would they sneak around the studio at the dead of night? Are they real around here? It was too impossible, they don't even exist. I wouldn't know cos I'm still in the stupid crate. The crate came to a complete stop. I bet 'Russ' is a bit mad with 'Muds' now.

"If we just wait for one minute," he hissed. "I will prove someone is in here."

But I think he had a change of plan. There was a crash as the crate hit a door, which scared the life out of me; I thought we were going on forever.

"Is this our crate then?" said a different voice, this time it was a sort of accent from London somewhere.

"What do you think it is? A playhouse?" said 'Muds' firmly, kicking the crate.

"It is new equipment as always." said a feminine voice which had a Japanese accent.

"It's _none_ of them stuff," shouted 'Russ'. "It's a person."

There was a very long silence.

"I will get the crowbar." said the Japanese girl, unsure.

There was a sound of trainers squeaking the floor and then the Londoner spoke up again (don't ask why I decided to call him that).

"So let me get this straight, there is _someone_ in the crate?" There was a small bump as a hand slammed on top.

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure." said 'Russ'.

"How can ya tell?"

"I heard muffled screams," I screamed again to prove his point.

There was a startled yell from the Londoner. I tried to shake the crate but it was too heavy, it did make a bang though.

"Blimey," said 'Muds'. "I think we got ourselves a zombie in here, I was right all the time, like always."

"If it sounded like a zombie," said the Londoner. "E' would be screaming 'n' moaning all the time giving you a migraine."

"You're the one getting them 'D," said 'Muds'.

"And…," said 'D' firmly.

"I don't think it was a 'he'" said 'Russ'.

'D' continued. "You wouldn't be getting a lot of girl zombies around 'ere would ya?"

I just had enough. When is that girl going to come with that crowbar so I can jump out and say I'm not dead? I started kicking the crate with my feet which were still joined together and moved from side to side hitting myself until I managed to move it with all my strength.

"Yep, we got a zombie." said 'D' agreeing with 'Muds'.

Finally, I hear the sound of squeaky trainers, I screamed for freedom and relief.

"I am not going near that," she said.

"Me neither." said 'D'.

"I thought the zombies were your friends." said 'Muds'.

"Shut up and get it open, man!" said 'Russ', panicking.

From inside, my heart was beating fast, worried that the crowbar was going to stab me in the head but I managed to dodge it. I thought to myself for one second as I started ducking down. Was that familiar voice Murdoc? It sounds the same as his. The only ways I can recognise him is his voice, his mismatched eyes and the same old clothes he's always wearing. I screamed as the lid of the crate was about to lift.

"Get ready to feast your eyes on this, everybody." said 'Muds'.

Then he pulled with all his might until the lid was completely off. I sat up. I was in some sort of large room where it had four chairs lined up in a row which had names on the back but I couldn't see some of them properly and about twenty paces away there was a small stage. Four people stared down at me with confused, shocked and curious looks, three men and one Japanese girl.

"I TOLD YOU!" shouted 'Russ'.

He had dark skin and eyes that were blank. He was wearing a baseball cap backwards with a Number 11 shirt. He was pointing to a man with black hair, olive skin, mismatched eyes wearing a golden inverted cross; a dark grey long sleeved shirt and dark blue jeans. It _was_ Murdoc! He hasn't changed one bit. I kept staring at him waiting for him to recognise me, but he told everyone to get me out and walked to the wall and leaned on it as if nothing serious was happening.

'Russ' and this other man who happened to be 'D' lifted me out and sat me on the floor. 'D' rummaged through his jacket pocket until he brought out a flick knife and started sawing through the rope from my wrists, his face full of concentration as he tried so hard not to cut me, I looked up at him then kept having to glance down every two seconds in case I was bleeding. He had a lovely face though he had two front teeth missing and had completely black eyes but his hair was a brilliant shade of Azure. He was very tall, about six foot when I saw him for the first time so that would make him the tallest out of the whole gang; I looked as his big hand held mine supportively and was resting it on his bony knee and was halfway through the rope already, he stopped and gave me a warm smile when he saw I was staring at him for too long, then the thought went round my head, could he be the one for me? I think I've got love hearts in my eyes like in cartoons. 'Russ' tried to untie the rope going around me and the Japanese girl was working on the rope round my ankles, she had a small face, she had short black (almost purple) hair, you couldn't see her eyes because her bangs were covering them. She wore a stripy blue shirt with black jeans and pink sneakers (not trainers).

"Man, this is all in a tight reef knot," said 'Russ' from behind me, having difficulty untying the rope.

"'D, give me that flick knife for a minute."

"Shall I do it?" 'D' offered, worried that 'Russ' might make a scar on my back.

"Come on, man just give me the f*****g knife." said 'Russ', impatiently.

I hope they are _all_ not like this to 'D'. I looked at the Japanese girl; she had already untied the rope round my ankles without any problems but looked up to see what was going on between the two men. I looked back at 'D' feeling a bit sorry for him. He held the knife firmly refusing to let go. Now that my hands were free (the rope round me was too tight to pull off), I grabbed the cloth and pulled down on it so that it was round my neck which made it look a bit like an untidy neckerchief and watched as 'Russ' grabbed hold of 'D's wrist tightly and twisted it, trying to make him drop the knife just like giving someone a Chinese burn with one hand. 'D's hand loosened and it rolled slowly on the floor, luckily there was no cut on his hand - which was going into a slight shade of red. 'Russ' let go and snatched the knife off the ground.

"Give it." whined 'D' as if he was confronting a bully to give back what he owned.

He tried to make a grab for it but 'Russ' held it high out of his reach. I couldn't take this anymore. I didn't like the way he was treating 'D'.

"STOP IT!" I shouted, without thinking.

Suddenly, 'Russ' froze, so did 'D'. They both turned their heads towards me; they didn't know that I had turned around on the spot, my fists clenched. I had a horrid urge to shove 'Russ' but knew that it was best not to hurt anyone. I heard a small gasp from the Japanese girl, even Murdoc looked up. I breathed heavily and slowly trying not to lose my temper.

"Just let him use the knife," I said slowly to 'Russ'.

"If you two are not careful, you'll be having each other's blood in your hands."

I shivered at that word, 'D' did the same and recoiled; I hated saying it and hated seeing it in real life. 'Russ' did as he was told and slowly gave the knife back and held the rope away from me so that it wasn't touching me. Whilst they were at it, I looked up at Murdoc who was no longer leaning against the wall but looking through the crate and lifting out a black plastic bag. He lay it down on the floor as the other two men helped me to my feet; the Japanese girl pushed my back to support me.

The thing that was in the bag looked the size of an average human being; it lay there lifelessly on the cold stone floor. Everyone looked at it as if there was nothing to be afraid of, but 'D' and I were a little bit unsure. Why does he keep copying my body language? I've only just met him and haven't spoken to him yet so what's the point?

"Now with that random moment out of the way," said Murdoc, eyeing the bag carefully.

"Let's see what our _real_ delivery is."

He looked at me as if I was delivered here for a joke. He better not go to the phone so that Laurence and Mick could take me to a biker gang's place or even _kill_ me.

"I'll deal with _you_ later." he added, giving me an evil look.

I _was_ right, he has forgotten about me. I have to think of something to say to him to prove it's me, but maybe later. He then poked his finger hard into the plastic until he made a hole which looked more like a rip. Murdoc grabbed the bag and pulled with all his might and the real delivery was revealed. It was the most petrifying thing I had seen in all my life; it _was_ a human being but a _dead one_. It laid stationery on the floor, its pale white skin was rather ghostly, I saw that its eyes were wide open but Murdoc carefully closed them, he looked at it with no reaction on his face but a look that said 'We have a big problem on our hands but I know it's not a pleasant sight'. The Japanese girl, 'D' and I couldn't keep our eyes off it; we were so scared that we couldn't move, the small girl was holding my arm for protection I think or trying to hide from the blood and guts (if there was any). Whilst Murdoc was examining, we had a small whispered discussion.

"I hope it doesn't get any worse than this." said 'Russ'.

"I hope not as well," said the Japanese girl to 'D'. "We got the wrong delivery, how can FedEx do that to us?"

"It must have been well scary sitting on 'im for hours." 'D' said to me, suddenly changing the subject, that's weird, that's what I do these days.

Murdoc ripped more of the bag where it showed his stomach which had a large cut down the middle. It wasn't naked; it wore a pair of boxer shorts. He grabbed the two flaps of skin and flesh and looked inside as if there was something secret hidden in there. Suddenly, my head is spinning, my vision is blurry, my arms and legs go to jelly and my eardrums were ringing like a loud eerie noise that you hear when a rooms completely shushed. I lose my balance as Murdoc puts his head closer to the dead man's guts, no wonder I was sitting on him and that strange smell kept coming once in a while.

"It was." I said in a small voice.

I fall backwards and lose consciousness. I had fainted. Why did I faint because of the dead body, I thought I was that type of person who isn't afraid like Murdoc. I was going to hit the ground when I heard shouts from 'Russ'.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, grab her 'D!"

I felt an arm wrap round my shoulders breaking my fall then I heard nothing else, I felt cold air hitting me as if someone was fanning my face, then someone grabbed my wrist with two fingers and felt for my pulse failing to find it but another hand felt for my other pulse on my neck this time, they found it (their fingers were trembling and cold), then I was being lifted up bridal style. Who were these three people with Murdoc? Are they his mysterious band? Who were they?

I know it wasn't Murdoc's fault that he has forgotten about me. I was right about the way I changed over the past fifteen years. It's a miracle to see him again and that he hasn't changed much. Right now, I was still unconscious. I had another horrid dream about Murdoc again.

_I was having a normal conversation with him, but we were in my old room in Stoke - On - Trent and Dad was going to keep him locked in there all day. Murdoc was saying all the words he wrote in the small letter from inside the raven pendant _(apart from the "From your brother, Murdoc" part), I can easily remember it all off by heart._ But he got up and everything started to blur and disappear, he laughed awfully at me and said that he was changing his mind on remembering me. I was then back in the police station and Steven had adoption forms in his hands and was asking me to sign _(I'm scared of him now);_ I ran away but was caught by Mick and Laurence and was captured again. They didn't take me to Kong Studios though. They took me back to Stoke – On – Trent and opened the crate and dumped me on the doorstep just like Mum did to me. Dad grabbed me by the collar of my coat and pulled me inside. Hannibal and Murdoc were looking at me evilly, Dad grabbed a crowbar and Hannibal shouted "Show her what you've got! I can't wait to taste her foul blood." Dad raised the crowbar and aimed for my head. Then he hit me…._

I suddenly awoke and jolted upwards. My heart was beating fast, I breathed quickly than ever, and I felt my forehead to check for any open wounds. Thank goodness there wasn't. I heard someone shriek and fell off the bed next to me but I couldn't see who it was. I waited until my heart was beating till normal pace and looked around the room I was in. I was lying on some sort of sofa bed at the foot of a single bed, my Ugg boots were at my side and my coat was lying down on the clean carpet with my drawstring bag underneath and the cloth round my neck was gone; the room was the colour of cream white, a little bit identical to a Japanese house. There were small lanterns with Japanese symbols hanging on the ceiling, in one corner there was a big pile of CD's and a small collection of guitars, including the Acoustic and a Les Paul. I heard someone struggling to get off the floor. I turned to see who it was, it was the Japanese girl. She climbed clumsily back on her bed, her earpieces from her music player fell out her ears but she ignored them. She brightened up when she saw me.

"You are awake." she said in fluent English.

"Yeah," I said, feeling dopey. "That was well disgusting back there."

"I agree with that too," she said crawling to the end of the bed. "I don't know what Murdoc-san was up to but we were all really scared, I had to hide behind you."

"I remember that." I said, fully awake. "Then I suddenly fainted and someone caught me and felt for my pulse twice."

"The thing is," the Japanese girl explained by memory. "Russel-san saw you falling and 2D-san caught you and fanned your face and I tried to find your pulse in your wrist but I wasn't good at finding it but 2D found it on your neck and said that your pulse rate was normal and Murdoc-san was moaning at him saying that you were not dead,"

I looked at her as she spoke; I now know the other two men, Russel and 2D, but the thing is what do they do here? The Japanese girl carried on.

"Then we took you to my room and Russel-san had to quickly put the sofa bed up and I was left in charge to keep an eye on you and now you have recovered."

Now I have to know _her_ name, I hope it's not the type of names from Japan that you find difficult to pronounce. Coincidently, she asked

"What is your name?"

"I'm Simone Hathaway." I said clearly.

"I am Noodle." she said, as if she adored her name like mad.

"Noodle, is that correct?"

"That's me." said Noodle, now going in hyper mode.

That's all the people in Kong Studios, Murdoc, Noodle, 2D and Russel plus one equals me. I decided I wanted to test my Japanese speaking on her, just double check if she actually is from Japan.

"Are you Japanese?" I asked.

"Hai," said Noodle. "From Osaka, I was delivered here in a FedEx crate like you – except with a horrible dead body inside – because I was signing up to be a guitarist – which I am - and that was before the_ band _started; I was only eight at that time, never knew any English but had a lot of help and I have picked up the language very easily, I'm seventeen now."

Which band was she talking about? I forgot about the question and then started on my speaking.

"Why are you acting crazy?" I said in fluent Japanese.

"You speak my language! That's awesome," said Noodle, still speaking English.

"Anyways," she said in Japanese. "I am crazy because that's the way I am sometimes."

I was going to start a new sentence when I suddenly burst out laughing, Noodle does the same. I think we are going to become best friends, she would be my first real friend I had in years. We had that moment where we were just about to calm down but we started up again because _I'd_ started it, I laugh all the time. It's an odd fact that it can burn calories. When we _did_ calm down, Noodle then started up a new conversation (in English).

"Do you have any questions to ask me?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

I didn't know what type of questions I had to ask her.

"Well, are you one of our fans?" she said.

"What do you mean 'one of our fans'?" I said, puzzled. "Are you some sort of band?"

"Hai," said Noodle. "We are the Gorillaz."

The Gorillaz, _the_ Gorillaz? I can't believe it! It was the band that everyone was going on about, the band that was playing on the guard's radio, the band that had been forgotten in 2006. It was them all the long AND MURDOC IS IN IT!

"No," I said, now getting the point. "I don't know you at all but I heard everyone talking about it, I can't believe Murdoc is in it!"

I started going into hyper mode now.

"You know Murdoc-san?" asked Noodle, thinking I might be playing tricks on her.

"I haven't seen him since I was seven."

"So are you related?" asked Noodle, still not getting it.

"Yeah, he's my older brother, but I don't know if I got the right person or not, but I'll check later."

Noodle was in shock for a little while as if she wasn't really expecting me to say that. I quickly said it was between me and her for a bit. Suddenly, Russel and 2D came into my mind, I got confused about which one is who.

"Who does what out of Russel and 2D?" I asked at random.

"Well," said Noodle, looking upwards and patting her chin with her index finger.

"Russel –san is the one that speaks American, he is the drummer and is a really good cook as well, and 2D…" she trailed off a bit but continued when she found her answer.

"2D-san is the one with the blue hair that you saved from Russel earlier. He can be very dumb at times in other terms '_very thick_', but he is a really nice person and he's the lead singer, he's sometimes not the best of speakers but there is one thing that you never want to see….Murdoc-san hurting him, he does bass guitar."

Murdoc, violent to a man that isn't the smartest? When I saw 2D, after he gave me that smile, I suddenly imagined him surrounded by ten women crowding around him and he was smiling his head off, but then Murdoc came along dressed in a police uniform like Steven wears and they automatically ran to him and started ripping his shirt off. After that, 2D was all lonely failing to give any of them an autograph and walked away. I tried to cry then but the tears won't come out. I have to try and find a way to do it, whether it is something that would scare me horribly or something about Murdoc. I am really against violence and wouldn't let myself release my anger on anyone or let anyone punch me once.

"Are you alright, Simone?" asked Noodle, finding I was in my own world. "Was it something that I said?"

"No, I'm cool." I said.

I wasn't cool; I was worried what kind of attack Murdoc would do to 2D if he said anything wrong and I hated the way Noodle described him like that, 'dumb and very thick'. There was a knock on the door, well a pound at the door if you would call it that. Noodle was just about to get it when it suddenly swung open. It was Murdoc, now was my chance.

"Right then," he said, as if he was trying to deal with a problem (which he is currently). "Now that _you're_ awake, I want to ask you some stuff."

I got up and walked over to him. He didn't tell me to stay where I was, I stared at him with my arms folded and leaned to the side a bit. I was nearly the same height as him, when I was seven I was up to his waist!

"Was you responsible for the false delivery we had wasted money on?"

"No," I mumbled so that only he could hear me.

"Yer lying," he hissed. He grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. "Tell me the truth!"

He stopped and I suddenly freaked out, I can't believe my brother is turning against me like this.

"I am," I said, very upset. "I got kidnapped and was sent here and I know you're a band cos Noodle told me but I'm not a fan but I found you after fifteen years."

Murdoc changed his looks from angry to very confused.

"Found?"

"Don't you remember me back in 1993?"

I gave him a nervous smile but he was still holding onto my shoulders.

"Never did."

"Do you even know who I am? It's me, your sister!"

"Is this some kind of joke? I've never had a sister." He said, really frustrating me. I took off my raven pendant and showed it to him.

"I have proof."

"That's _my_ pendant," he said, I think he has forgotten – he's also lost his mind. "I've lost it for years and now I got it back, thank you very much."

He tried to take it but I got very annoyed with him.

"For goodness sake, just open the thing!" I said.

"Alright, keep your hair on," he opened it up, expecting nothing inside. "There is nothing in here at…" he suddenly stopped mid sentence.

He stared at the picture of us two, he was then out of this world completely, maybe he is getting a lot of flashbacks. He closed his eyes for a bit then looked at the picture again then at me.

"Simone?" He recognised me! I can't believe it (_finally_). "It really _is_ you, sis."

"Yes!" I said in a high pitched voice. Murdoc closed the pendant quickly and gave it back to me.

"Come 'ere you." He said with arms wide.

I automatically gave him the same hug that I did fifteen years ago. We have finally reunited; I knew I would see him again, I tried to break the hug but he wouldn't let go so I stayed where I was.

"I can't believe that you were coincidently sent here," said Murdoc as if he was about to cry, even though he never does like I do. "I thought about you all the time."

"Same here," I said. "But why did you say that you've never had a sister?"

"I was only pulling your leg," said Murdoc happily. "You read that note didn't you?"

"Yeah, it said that you will always remember the same Simone Kelly Hathaway you've known." I tried to cry at this rate but it won't work.

"Didn't you even recognise me at all?"

"Not at first, but I almost recognised the face and I was getting p****d off because I thought it wouldn't be you but when you showed me proof, I found that it was you all the long."

Murdoc _did_ care for me; I love him so much – as a brother.

"One sec, that wasn't given to you and you're _pretending_ to be Simone?"

That was one totally stupid question; of course it was me, _the _Simone Hathaway, great, now I'm thinking that I'm a celebrity as well.

"No!" I said. "What made you think that?"

I stared at him and waited for his answer, he stared at me biting his bottom lip and trying not to laugh.

"Fell for it again!" he said, going in hysterics. I was all giggly after me and Noodle's conversation and I started up again.

"What are you laughing at, you two?" she raised her voice so we could hear.

"It's just brother and sister random times." I said, wiping a laughter tear away, I _did_ cry but only for laughing matters.

"At least it is glad that you have both reunited after all them years." she said, cheerfully.

"I think I should cancel that phone call to them t*****s." said Murdoc, changing the subject.

"But what about that other body?" said Noodle her smile turning into a petrified look.

"We're keeping that in the landfill," suggested Murdoc. "It could be bait for the zombies."

"There was absolutely no need to look through its insides like that," I said. "You knew that I was going to faint and you do know I have a huge fear of blood." I shivered again, I need to stop going on about that body.

"Well, I had to check if there were no drugs smuggled," said Murdoc. "We're one of the world's greatest bands, we can never be forgotten – you only just got here two hours ago so that doesn't count you - and we don't want the 'Old Bill' to come crashing the studio doors down."

"Apparently, no one has spoken about you since 2006." I stated.

"Oh my, what are we going to do?!" said Murdoc using a ridiculous American voice pretending to be petrified. "You're telling the truth this time aren't you?" he said, going back to an English accent.

"Yes, Murdoc," I said, I couldn't help but smile. "You just need to….um…."

I didn't know what to say next, I couldn't get the right word but then I had it.

"….be noticed a lot often."

"But you always never know where there might be people taking pictures of us when we are not looking." said Noodle, making a good point.

"But, man, _I_ have to be the one who has to be noticed because of all those chicks out there I hang out with." said Murdoc, as if he was one of the greatest people – which he is because he is part of Gorillaz.

"And why is that?" I asked.

"Because, my little sister, Gorillaz is _my_ band, _I_ made it, _I'm_ the mastermind of it all, _I_ found the right people for the job and…."

I stared at him and kept a straight face; he stopped his sentence and changed his mind on the subject.

"What?" he said.

"I'm listening, carry on." I said, letting him continue.

"Forget it," he said. "I'll show you around; by the way this place is the Gorillaz HQ, also known as…"

"Kong Studios," I said before he even said it.

Murdoc's face was nearly close to mine, but he didn't show any anger.

"I thought you said that you weren't a fan." he said, thinking that I'm being stupid.

"Duhh, I'm not," I said in an almost low and idiotic voice then went back to a normal. "I heard the one who appeared at the doorway who you said 'get lost' to say that I had to be delivered to Kong Studios immediately, they were fake employees you know."

"Fine." said Murdoc.

Then we linked arms like any other brother and sister and walked down the corridor. I quickly gave Noodle a little wave before she went back into her Japanese room. Murdoc kept his arm locked so that he wouldn't let go of me then bent over a little bit towards me until his mouth was next to my left ear.

"Sis?" he whispered.

"Yeah," I whispered back.

"There's something I need to say."

"What is it?" I said, hoping he's going to say something like 'Good to have you back' or 'Fifteen years, that's massive' but he said something which made me smile full stop.

"I don't want you to leave my life, ever again."


	5. New Life in Kong

**Chapter 4: New Life in Kong **

Murdoc took me through every nook and cranny of Kong Studios. He showed me all the spare rooms jokingly recommending a place for me to stay in and warning me that some were zombie infested (I really believe him now), then there was the recording room, music room, audition room (where I was found), first ground lobby, kitchen, toilets, private cinema, the lounge and the car park. It was a large place with a massive collection of smashed cars that were once Murdoc's. There was one awesome car that they used in one of their music videos. It was an open top dune buggy with khaki patterned all over and it was under the name Geep. Then he showed me this other vehicle which was a little similar to a campervan, it had some bullet holes on the side with loads of beer bottles on the floor and there was a 'keep out' sign that wasn't really amusing. It was Murdoc's Winnebago (known to him as 'The Love Shack on Wheels or 'The Crib's Crib'); he said he is currently _living_ in it. I asked why he couldn't sleep in any of the other rooms. He said that when he first bought Kong Studios back in 1999, there wasn't any heating (and there were zombies as well) and his Winnebago was the only place left for him. I agreed without complaint. Then he suddenly wrapped his arm round me and I did the same to him. He took me to a door at the end where the sign on it marked '2D's room'.

"This is a new sport I made which I'm going to show you," he said, picking up two empty cans which he found lying around. "You should do this every day like I do."

What on earth was he talking about? What is it got to do with sport? I quickly knew from the start after Murdoc pounded on the bedroom door.

"What is it?" said a voice from inside.

"Watch this, sis." said Murdoc.

He grabbed the first can and opened the door wide. The room was painted greyish black, there was a collection of keyboards on the walls, there was a few things scattered about the floor but you can manage to walk through it all. There was a huge triple flat screen TV which was hanging on the wall opposite a bed with bright orange sheets where 2D was sitting with his back to us. I think he knew that we were coming and he also knew that Murdoc was there.

"Surprise!" he shouted, throwing the can hitting 2D fair and square on the head.

It landed in front of him but he didn't care. I had a horrid sinking feeling in my stomach, is this the way Murdoc treats his front man?

"Go away," said 2D, miserably. "Why can't yer just leave me alone?"

"Well _you're_ in for luck, you're getting another can." said Murdoc, horribly. He shoved the second can into my hand.

"Go on sis," he whispered. "Let him have it, he deserves it."

I looked down at the can then looked up at 2D. I don't want to become like Murdoc and threaten him all the time. I think that's the way he is, he takes after Dad. I pretended to aim then dropped it on the floor, crushed it and kicked it until it was under the Winnebago.

"What was that for?" said Murdoc. "That was my best one."

"And…" I said, firmly. "I don't care at all, neither does 2D."

From the corner of my eye, 2D turned round when he noticed that I knew his name and spotted me and Murdoc in the doorway. I looked back at him but Murdoc kept his eyes on me as if there was an awful sight from where I was looking, which there isn't.

"How did you know his name?" he asked, as if he was thinking I was some kind of mind reader.

"Noodle told me _everything_." I said quietly, looking back at Murdoc, a tiny timid smile appeared on my face randomly.

"You're starting to get really weird by the minute you are," said Murdoc, he thinks I'm protecting 2D.

"I'm not," I said, folding my arms like he always does and my grin disappeared.

"I just didn't want to play any of your idiotic sports, I don't even like the game called 'Hit your band mate on the head with dirty litter from the car park', what I'm saying is that it will get very boring and annoying for everyone and it's not like me to get involved in your so-called sport, call it a sport? It's a game of your stupidity, there is no way it's going to be part of the Olympics."

This was the first time I've ever had a go at Murdoc for something I hated. Instead of getting upset and all that, I stayed perfectly calm.

"I know it's been nearly three hours," Murdoc sighed, he stayed calm as well but smiled. "But I've just had enough of you."

He picked me up bridal style and carried me into 2D's room.

"Oh, come on," I said, confused and a tiny bit annoyed. "It's not like you at all, oh yeah and one question."

Murdoc suddenly stopped in his tracks; he hadn't even gone halfway into the room yet.

"Did you get those photos developed?"

Murdoc drifted into thought. I was asking if he had developed the photos we took fifteen years ago, approximately forty eight of them. There were some from the garden, some from when I snuck in Murdoc's room, some from when he got punished and was sent to my room and some stupid ones of us fooling around.

"Thanks for reminding me," he said, away from his little bubble of memories. "I haven't touched that camera yet, I still have it, and I promise I'll sort them out tomorrow."

He completely forgot we were in 2D's room. He suddenly went to his original mood and walked over to the bed and dumped me on it so I had my back to 2D who was still staring at us.

"Stay there like a good human being and learn how to respect me properly until I get back."

I knew he wasn't telling me off, I think he is trying to get me to stay with 2D so I could be out of his way for a bit, only joking. Murdoc forgot to take me to see Russel, I know my way around off by heart already, and I'll find him myself. I remember Murdoc murmuring about Russel always being in his room if you needed him. I saw Murdoc leave and slammed the door shut. I gazed at the spot he was at; I can't believe I've seen him again after all those years. I sat crossed legged on the edge of the bed; I inhaled deeply whilst I thought about nothing and sighed. I had a quick glance at my watch; it was 8:22pm. I _have_ been here long, after the whole tour of Kong Studios by my favourite brother of all, I think he was right about earlier, I don't want to keep him away from my life, he is the only family member I love, this is excluding Mum, Dad and Hannibal, come to think of it I think he is thinking the same thing as me even though we have the same dad and brother but different mums but Murdoc never knew his biological mother. I wish_ I_ never knew my mum; we could have had a lot in common. But what made me say that he was the best brother? He does get a little bit horrid with me if I don't leave him alone after an argument with Dad or Hannibal or if he got sent to my room. But do you know what? I don't care at all. I know what he can be like at times, it is a bit weird having a brother who is twenty years older than you but in my life, you get used to the fact. I was still staring at the door when suddenly two hands rested on my shoulders, I gasped because it made me jump. I turned a bit and fell backwards. Two arms reached out and grabbed me and I sat safely still cross legged on the bed, it was 2D all the long. We sat staring at each other, 2D tried to speak but he couldn't get the words. I was about to start my sentence but he found what he was going to say.

"Is 'e yer brother then?" he asked, curiously. I smiled

"Yeah he is, it's been fifteen years since I last saw him." I said shyly.

"I wish_ I_ had a brother or a sister," said 2D, miserably but he smiled his toothy grin. "But I think it's much better being the only kid to me and having a sister can be a right pain – _if_ yer don't mind me saying that - I'm 2D."

"I'm Simone." I said, shaking his hand slightly.

"Simone who?" he asked, as if he was ever so confused.

He acts just like me when I go brain dead on the maths tests that I get given by my teacher; I'm not saying it in a bad way just to let you know.

"Hathaway," I answered. "Is 2D your nickname?"

"Well, my real name is Stuart Pot; everyone calls me Stu-Pot, Murdoc called me 2D not because I'm two dimensional or sumfink but it's because of the dents in me 'ed, well my eyes really give it all away, Murdoc did it in a car ram-raid accident before Gorillaz started, I prefer to be called 2D."

How could Murdoc do that to poor 2D? Man, he has to be careful these days, 2D was right, his eyes are the key to his nickname, and I found that it wasn't short for 'two dimensional' but 'two dents'.

"Murdoc did this to you?" I said, appalled and shocked.

"Yeah, it well 'urt it did, I ended up in a coma state 'n' Murdoc got sentenced to thirty thousand hours in jail 'n' ten hours of taking care of me."

"That must have been awful." I said sympathetically.

He was fascinated that I was listening and taking the entire lot of information in.

"I'm not saying this to offend you in any way but, can you still see clearly?"

My heart sank when I said it, I bet he isn't going to answer or say 'change the subject'.

"Yes," he said, not feeling hurt, upset or angry but really puzzled. "Why wonder?"

"Dunno, wondering if you were okay."

"Don't worry about me a lot," he reassured. "It all happened back in the old years, I'm not allowed to drive because they go blurry and out of focus and I suffer from lack of concentration and _that's_ when you worry about me."

I decided to change the subject.

"Was you thinking of being in a band when you were younger?"

"Not really, I first wanted ta be a storm chaser,"

"That jobs too extreme." I said, taken aback.

"But _then_ I decided I wanted ta do a bit of graffiti work, but instead I got a job as a Saturday boy at Uncle Norm's Organ Emporium - which is shut down forever cos that duh' brain Murdoc crashed through it - he was trying to steal some keyboards but he had ta enter the dangerous way, I was just standing by the counter staring into space, I never knew he was coming, by the way I was star employee which was wicked it was."

He stopped talking and stared at me for a small amount of seconds.

"I was that close to become the next manager." he moved his fingers apart as if he was describing how big an object was.

I was in the same position but resting my chin on my hands. 2D copied my pose so that so that we were face to face (not that close).

"Ya know what?" he says, smiling. "You are the first person who listens to every word I say."

"Why's that?" I asked. "What about Noodle? She's your friend isn't she? All friends listen to a single word each other say."

"Noodle _does_ that but when I get all 'dumb' and talk about 'stupid stuff', she gets really bored and sometimes sleepy."

"That's not like her at all." I said, angry at the fact Noodle is making a right fool of herself.

"Russel and Murdoc are sometimes like that as well." 2D mumbled. He seemed a bit upset.

"You have to learn to ignore this nastiness, well Noodle isn't really involved with it but you know what I mean."

"I've tried loads. If I ignore Russel, he sometimes threatens me, but if I ignore Murdoc, he 'urts me until I'm completely injured, he strangles me, hits me, punches me, kicks me and he sometimes throws stuff at me (like earlier), he almost broke my jaw once throwing a phone book at me. The worst part is he calls me loads of names, but I'm okay on that but being called the same name fifty times a day really makes my life a mess."

I felt really hurt by what he said. Why would Murdoc do this? I sat there staring down at my own hands as if _I_ was responsible to all the violence. I tried so hard to cry but still I couldn't. I once tried to by making the face when you do it but I ended up getting a massive headache because I made my face go really red. 2D reached out and touched my left shoulder.

"You alright, Simone?" he asked.

"Just a little bit hurt by it all," I whispered, it almost sounded like I _was_ crying then.

"Hurt? You haven't injured yourself 'ave you?"

"Not that sort of way," I sighed.

"I just don't know what ever goes on in yer brother's mind," he explained. "I feel a bit sorry for him and for you too."

"Thank you." I said silently. Thirty seconds passed.

"Do ya want a hug?" 2D asked. I looked up at him.

"Alright," I said quickly, I was a bit unsure into whether Murdoc was listening through the door.

We slowly got close and put our arms round each other. I rested my head on his bony shoulder and he did the same. I closed my eyes as I felt 2D rubbing my back sympathetically; I rubbed his shoulder blade as I suddenly drifted into sleep. I inhaled slowly and silently, a thick lock of his Azure hair touched me lightly on my forehead. 2D hugged me tight a little, I think he fell asleep as well because he stopped rubbing my back and lowered his head a bit. I tilted my head a fraction until my nose ended up touching his neck. I know I've only met him today and have spoken to him for about twelve minutes but I felt that there is an unexpected bond forming between us. I inhaled silently again and I randomly smelt 2D's scent below his hair, it smelt like sweet butterscotch with a weak smell of cigarettes. I couldn't tell whether he _did_ smoke or he is always in the same area where Murdoc smoked; 2D must be well relaxed cos maybe he might have smelt my White Rose and Jasmine fragrance.

"You can let go now." I whispered softly into his ear.

There was silence as I opened up my eyes half asleep, the time was 8:37pm.

"2D," I tapped him on the shoulder.

2D loosened his grip so I was able to look at his face. He opened up his eyes slightly and groaned a little as if he had just woken up; he gave me that same smile he did when he was cutting the rope round my wrists. He reached out a hand and touched my face lightly as if I was really precious. Then he touched my arm and pushed me slowly sideways. He went down at the same time as me until our heads touched the pillows on the bed. He rested his hand so that it was pointing towards me and made the gesture of wanting a hand shake.

"Friends?" he said.

"Deal," I said touching his palm with my fingers to make it look like I was giving him a small high five.

I'm getting quite good at making friends now; I have two new friends, 2D and Noodle. After ignoring my private teacher, it suddenly made me able to do it, I made tiny circular motions on his palm with the tip of my middle finger not knowing whether to go to see Russel, go find Murdoc, stay where I am or go back to Noodle. I had to take the third option, I want to be a really great friend to him and I will make sure Murdoc doesn't make his life hard. Hang on, why am I lying down on 2D's bed with him staring at me? We have to make sure that we won't get _too_ close to each other, I don't really believe in love at first sight, I wonder what he's going to say to me tomorrow (I'm not talking about going out as in… you know). I looked at 2D in the eye, he's fallen asleep again, and his hand still in the same position, his other arm was cushioning my neck. I sat up slowly to prevent him from waking, I wanted to go and see what Murdoc was up to but he told me to stay in the bedroom until he got back, for what? I didn't want to leave 2D anyway; I think he prefers my company. I better wait for Murdoc to come and get me. I lay back down, 2D had both arms by his side and was breathing silently and softly with his mouth a tiny bit open showing a gap where two front teeth used to be. I reached out to touch his hair but changing my mind because I am not risking waking him up. Then the temperature in the room turned cold and he started to shiver a bit and was fidgeting, I got up quickly as he turned over and rubbed his hand on the side where I was and grabbed the duvet on top of the pillow and tried to pull it down and was kicking it until it got to the bottom of his sock covered feet. He searched frantically in his sleep to find the beginning of the duvet without any luck, he stopped, went back into his usual position and shivered again and still trying to find out where I'd gone. I tiptoed to the end of the bed, grabbed the duvet which was quite heavy because it was a double bed and pulled it over 2D up to his neck. I watched as he stopped shivering and smiled a little. It made me smile too; I think we're going to be great friends. I bent down and whispered in his ear.

"Sorry I have to go." 2D nodded sleepily but kept his eyes closed.

I patted his shoulder which was sticking out and crept to the door. I watched were I was going in case I stepped on something sharp and screamed or tripped over it, I held the door handle and looked back at 2D who was sound asleep. I gently opened the door a fraction, slipped outside and closed it, and then…

"Talk about good timing, sis," I turned quickly to find that Murdoc was standing there as if he were about to open the door himself.

"You weren't listening were you?" I said half whispered.

"I wouldn't stick my nose into anyone else's conversations, I _did_ listen but I walked away thinking it was too private and I've come back for you, what's Pudding Head up to in there."

"He's asleep," I said.

"That's very rude isn't it?" said Murdoc. "I wondered why you were whispering, I'm going in to wake him up so you can carry on chatting."

He tried to push past but I blocked his path.

"Leave him be," I said through gritted teeth. "He's fine, we were talking and I had a couple of flashbacks from when I got abandoned by _her_ and got upset and then 2D asked if I wanted a hug and I felt relaxed and he did too and he must have been exhausted and went to bed,"

I had to lie about the flashbacks instead of mentioning about Murdoc's violence towards 2D, I didn't want to see a broken jaw or another dent in the head.

"A hug?" mimicked Murdoc. "A hug, god that bloke's too old to be getting those and it won't help _anything_,"

"Honestly Murdoc, _you've_ been giving me hugs _and_ you're forty two,"

"That's because we are bro and sis," stated Murdoc.

"And close friends." I added.

"Yeah right, anyway I want you to follow me."

"What for," I asked suspiciously.

"Whilst you were killing time talking to _him_, I went round the studio and found the right place for your room, Noodle has already delivered your stuff there and I promise you that it is not zombie infested."

"Cool," I said. "What floor is it on?"

"Can't remember but I do know that it's right next to Noodle and Russel's room."

I stood there with a small smile on my face. "Where's the 'Yay' and 'I'm next door to my best friend'?" said Murdoc doing all these girly voices that were ever so rubbish.

"I'm not that kind of girl you were thinking about Murdoc." I stated.

So here we were walking down the corridor to the room what I'm going to soon call 'home'. Along the way, Murdoc and I were taking it in turns to push each other sideways. I crashed into him with my arms folded and he shoves me back not too violently, this carried on until I got suddenly bored.

"That's enough now." I said panting for breath and a bit overexcited.

"At least I got you entertained even though you are too old for that now." said Murdoc. Three seconds passed.

"We were never like that when…"

"Yeah we were," Murdoc interrupted stopping and grabbing my shoulders all in a flash. "When Dad was at the pub for his daily pints."

"Wasn't he was always on the couch watching the football then doses off when it doesn't get to half time?" I thought.

"Yes but without the dosing off," Murdoc agreed. "Thank god he doesn't care what we're up to, eh?"

He patted me on the shoulder signalling me to keep walking. I just don't know why Murdoc likes me; maybe he didn't like Hannibal and Dad that much and thought that I was the helpless one. Like he said once, he will do anything for a girl. Maybe that's the main reason why he cares. I wish I can forget all that and think about my future. Without quite noticing, Murdoc suddenly pushed me forward making me jog.

"What on earth are you doing?" I said nearly laughing.

He ignored my question and led me down to the end of the corridor. There was a door marked 'Russel's room' which I came across before we left Noodle to do the whole tour, if you listened carefully you would hear the sound of hip hop music and the noise of a game console controller

"Murdoc, stop pushing me or I'll kick you, _hard_." I said trying to be angry but failing because of the smile on my face, I knew it would be impossible cos I'll trip over and Murdoc will fall on top of me and we'll make right fools of ourselves.

I can hear Murdoc secretly laughing; I knew he was winding me up.

"Close your eyes, sis." He hissed but was giggling.

I did as I was told; my conscience was telling me that I was going to be put right next to something hanging on the wall that could make me faint again.

"Whatever it is, it's scaring me." I said, my eyes were shut tight like I was refusing to open them up to see the real world, but I knew that I couldn't live in the world of darkness forever, I have Murdoc with me to make life easier and friends that are awesome like 2D and Noodle, if Russel became my friend, me and the Gorillaz will be like one family – sort of.

"Come on, mate, we're only messing around," said Murdoc, teasing. "Stopping in 3…2…1…and now."

Murdoc grabbed my shoulders causing me to jolt forward and crash into something that sounded wooden and was hard. I opened my eyes quickly to find myself falling backwards, I wobbled like crazy but Murdoc caught me, pulled me upright and wrapped his arms round me from behind.

"Don't do that again please." I whispered.

"Right now, as you already know Russel's room is over there," announced Murdoc pointing in the direction of the door on the right then pointing to the door to the left. "And Noodle is over there and this is your room." Murdoc opened the door for me.

The room was painted dark purple with a cream carpet which was completely clean, there were no dead zombies anywhere, there was a double bed with blue pillows and duvet, my stuff were all on it, next to it was a light coloured wardrobe and a small desk, similar to the one in my dorm at the police station and best of all there was a TV, DVD player and a Playstation 2 right opposite the bed, and you never believe it, I have a computer! There was a door in the far side that _could _be a private bathroom like Noodle has. I turned to Murdoc and hugged him.

"I made this room in case you showed up one time." he said.

"And your wish is granted." I said breaking the hug.

"Yeah, anyway, I've got some important stuff to do, so enjoy yourself, by the way, when you were unconscious, we found your phone and we all gave you our numbers. Text me if you want anything, just hope you have enough credit."

"Thanks for that," I said. "And thanks for everything."

"No prob." said Murdoc.

He gave me one quick hug, gave me a reminder that everything in the bathroom works and left. I closed the door behind me, locked it and smiled. This is my new home, Kong Studios. I feel like I want to stay in my room forever, but I wouldn't want to lack any Vitamin D. I walked over to the bed and lay down, it was very soft and it smelt of nothing for some strange reason. I unpacked everything from my drawstring bag and threw it in the wardrobe where I found my coat and shoes, I must thank Noodle. Then suddenly, I heard a vibrating sound on my bed which made me jump. I sprinted to the bed and picked up the phone, someone was calling me and you'll never believe who it was. It was Steven! I wanted to ignore the call but I thought that would be a bit rude, moments ago during the tour, Murdoc asked me who Steven was and I had to explain that he looked after me for the fifteen years I was gone. He said that he was going to tell the others because they were really confused; Russel thought he was one of my classmates, Noodle thought he was my cousin; 2D thought he was another brother of mine and Murdoc thought he was my _boyfriend_. I said quickly that he was in his fifty's and he believed. Without much choice, I accepted the call.

"Hello?" I whispered as if I had a really bad throat.

"Simone, is that you?" said Steven, he was crying. "If you're okay, tell me where you are, has anyone hurt you? I'm currently looking for you around Staffordshire, please Simone, talk to me!"

I didn't want to talk to him; I'm never going back to the police station now that I live in Kong Studios.

"Look sweetheart," he sobbed. "Since the past fifteen years you've been at the police station, I've been thinking this over and over and now I want to tell you right this minute."

There was a long pause; I can hear him breathing nervously.

"When I find you and return you _home_, I'm going to ask to _adopt_ you."

I KNEW IT! No way has he been acting all weird when I'm around. I'm finding it funny because I've lied to him and he thinks that I'm an orphan even though I have a dad who I never want to see again, and a mum who I used to love but she abandoned me because she was moving to Scotland and my dad's place was the only place left for me to live in, until I met Murdoc, I've been happy. I was still on call to Steven; this is where I take action.

. "No way are you becoming my dad, Steven," I whispered-shouted. "I've found a new home and I'm not telling where I am in this country no matter how many times you ask me."

I hung up. My heart was beating with panic. I quickly went to Contacts to delete Steven's number. 'Are you sure you want to delete Steven?' said the question. I got goose bumps thinking that he was going to ring me again and selected 'Yes'. 'Deleting Steven' said the message. I imagined myself saying 'Well done' over and over. The only contacts I had left were Murdoc, 2D, Russel, Noodle and my number because I don't know it off by heart. I sat at the desk leaving the phone on the bed.

"Better safe than sorry," I kept saying under my breath.

I knew it was _right_ to delete Steven's number; I just need to keep my mind off it all. I pulled open the drawer to find my inhaler and my sketchbooks. I haven't used my inhaler in a while; I had a quick puff from it in case I get all wheezy. I felt very bored so I opened up my sketch book to see my memories then to a fresh new page, I knew what I was going to draw, this is what I'm going to do in this book from now on, draw pictures of my past and present. Half an hour later, I drew a picture of my old dorm, then I drew the audition room where I was found, then Noodle with her CD player, then 2D asleep in his bed and finally my new room with me working. I only used the rubber _once _because I got carried away by drawing an extra chair in the audition room, what was I thinking? I'm _not_ going to be part of the Gorillaz. It took me another thirty minutes to use colour on all the drawings including the four in the old book. Murdoc doesn't know about my drawing skills, I'm a bit scared to show him because I don't like drawing attention to myself. If I showed 2D, Russel or Noodle, they are bound to tell him. I'm very proud of my talent of art, dance and skateboarding (I've decided to give up that now). Secretly, my other talent is singing (I used to play the violin when I was five but I quit because it was boring). If I _was_ in Gorillaz, I could make up dance routines for some songs and even if Murdoc said yes, 2D and I can do a duet (if there were any new songs being made). But Murdoc will tease 2D saying that I should be the new singer of Gorillaz and he will get upset saying that the band wouldn't be the same without him, I sort of agree with him but it's only my thoughts playing up. I then heard another vibration from my bed, oh no, the phone was ringing again. I walked slowly towards it.

"Just relax." I mouthed. I picked it up. It said '2D calling'. 2D! He must be wondering where I am. I quickly selected 'Accept call'.

"Hello?" I said aloud.

"Ello Simone," said 2D, he sounded wide awake and there was a faint sound of screams. "Hang on." he added, the sounds gradually faded.

"What were you watching?" I wondered.

"This zombie film called The Brood, I luv that one, I was asleep and I thought you went out ta talk ta someone and you 'aven't come back, I woke up and you were still gone, where are ya now?"

"Murdoc found me a room and I'm in it," I said. "It's in between Russel and Noodle's room."

"Oh yeah, I know now. Do you want ta come back to my room and watch the film with me?"

"I would love to but it's been a long day for me and I'm a bit tired."

"What about tomorrow?" he suggested.

"It depends." I said trying to be polite.

"Alright," said 2D. "By the way, Noodle's 'ere, she told me to remind you that she's bringing you some old night stuff of 'ers, just hope they fit ya."

"Ok that's fine, night."

"Night luv," I hung up.

Oh my word. He called me 'love'. _Don't get too crazy Simone; this is your first day in your new home, don't go mad about the way 2D addresses girls_. I turned my phone off and unlocked the door. I got my bed ready for the night and decided to lie down for a moment. This is the first time I've been on a bed in fifteen years, well a proper bed; the one at the police station was useless. The pillows were soft just like the way 2D has them and then I got carried away and pulled the duvet over me, it was nice and warm; I never want to leave this bed. I then drifted into sleep. I dreamt that I was in 2D's room.

_I was sitting on the bed and 2D was standing opposite. He went over and locked the door; he had a big grin on his face. He turned to me, I was grinning as well. He pulled his shirt off then jumped like a panther and landed on top of me but it didn't hurt. "You're not going anywhere," he said. Then the duvet was covering us up to our necks. "You're staying with me and we're not going to sleep most of the night." He touched my bottom lip with his finger as he said it. Then slowly, we touched lips and kissed, there were a couple English ones which suddenly turned French and we didn't stop for one break, then without thinking I pulled my shirt off (I was still wearing a bra thank goodness). I felt the warmth of 2D's body; I was never going to leave him because he is my first love. I had butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it. In just a few seconds, we were lying there in the same position doing completely nothing; 2D was only wearing his pants whilst I was in my bra and knickers. It was completely black in the room and we were together and then… _No!

It's not going to happen like that. I woke up in a flash; my heart was beating at a slow pace when it wasn't supposed to. Why am I dreaming that I was 2D's girlfriend? I'm now wondering whether 2D is dreaming about it as well. I had a quick glance at the time; it had gone quarter past ten. I got up and made the bed again when there was a knock at the door. I knew who it was anyway. Noodle had arrived with my night stuff. I was all sweaty after the dream and I'm getting a bit nervous about watching films with 2D tomorrow. I'm worried that if I turned towards him, he will kiss me on the lips and then _it_ will happen.

"Is anything the matter, Simone-san?" Noodle asked curiously.

She was already in her pyjamas and has her hair in tiny pigtails and clipped her bangs to the side showing her slanted eyes which were the colour of emerald green.

"I'm really nervous, that's all." I said, not really knowing what to say.

"You'll get used to this place," said Noodle handing me a small bundle, some slipper socks and a dressing gown.

"Thanks Noods, you're a star." I said thankfully.

"I hope you sleep well."

"Night," I said in Japanese.

Noodle giggled. She seems really happy that I'm the only person in Kong Studios who knows her language completely. I see her leave and walk in the room next door to me. I close my door and lock it. I imagined that in the night, 2D was going to sleepwalk into my room and lie next to me; I'm literally making myself paranoid. I looked at the pyjamas and put them on. There was a bright blue short sleeved shirt with raspberry red shorts (the ones that reach up to your ankles). I still had rope burn on them and on my wrists as well but it didn't hurt that much. I put the slipper socks on as well; they were bright pink with white stripes. I turned my bedside lamp on; it's one of them tall lamps that have a bendy spine. I found three books in my drawer. My favourite one out of all of them was _The Raven and its Master_. I haven't read it in two years; I'm going to have to restart it from Chapter One. I tried on the dressing gown which match the slipper socks (without the stripes). They all fit perfectly. I decided to check out the En Suite bathroom, there was a clean sink, a toilet and a bath with a shower that both worked. Again like my room, the wall and floor had my personal favourite colour, sky blue.

"I love Kong Studios." I said randomly.

I turned out the light, put the dressing gown in the wardrobe and read my book in bed for about fifteen minutes. I can't believe Murdoc has organised this for me. When I turned out the light at last, I thought about earlier, the dream, just as I was making a 'Simone's room' sign for my door and a sign saying 'Bathroom' for the other door. Will that end up coming true? Did 2D have the same dream? First off, I was nervous about it and now, I'm becoming curious and I thought that the dream turned out to be _good_. I'm going to have to keep these things secret:

**1.** I _now_ believe in love at first sight.

**2.** I am _secretly_ in love with 2D.

**3.** I _will_ make him my first boyfriend.

I had another lovely dream about me and 2D but it's too embarrassing to explain, until it got interrupted and turned into a Noodle dream where we were trying on make-up, the Russel dream was when I was street dancing on the audition room stage and he was cheering me on until the song finished. The Murdoc dream, it was good because we were hanging out in the car park and it was bad because he started smoking in front of me completely forgetting I was asthmatic then he was choking and a black shadow came out of his mouth, it was a ghost.

_It stared at me with beady red eyes. "Get her out of my sight, mate." he said putting the cigarette back in his mouth. The ghost opened its jaw showing shark like teeth and launched at me_.

That was when I woke up. It was 7:39am and I wasn't in the mood for a lie-in like I always have. I put my dressing gown on, got my phone on, made my bed, brushed my hair (Noodle gave me a comb which was hidden in the pocket) and went downstairs to the kitchen. No one was up yet which didn't bother me. I got myself a glass of water to keep my mind off the dream. I've lost my appetite when I got here last night, I need to eat something or Murdoc is going to worry for me, not in my dreams though. I sat at the table holding my glass in one hand and resting my chin with the other. I stared out the window which had the view of the landfill; it was as if we were living next door to the pile of the world's rubbish dump. The sun was rising so it was the crack of dawn. Thank goodness it's summer time (almost). I sat alone in the cold kitchen, the fridge was buzzing quietly and I kept having to strain my ears to listen to it, the sink had a lot of dirty dishes and glasses left, the aroma of Chinese Takeaway and pizza made my stomach play up, not that it was making me hungry but that sort of stomach feeling when you've woken up early in the morning, I imagined how Murdoc coped to wake at 7am five times a week to get to college but I bet he gets up whenever now. I then saw the bin was completely full, you could tell because there were plastic bottles sticking out. There were about six empty boxes of all sorts of stuff, cereal, porridge oats, cling film, washing machine soap, Takeaway pizza and boxes from old deliveries, not from FedEx though; I don't think they can trust them now they found me and that dead body. I took another quick sip of water to make myself forget. I heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen; they were whistling but suddenly stopped cos I think they saw me. I was startled by it that I ended up skipping a heartbeat. I froze, my hand firmly holding the glass; I refused to turn around to see who it was. It was going to be either: Russel, Murdoc or 2D. There was silence again; I only heard tiny footsteps coming up behind me like someone tiptoeing. Then suddenly everything went black, the person behind me had covered my eyes with their almost cold hands. I can hear them breathing slightly; I knew exactly who it was.

"Guess who?" said 2D.

"I knew it was you." I giggled as he uncovered my eyes. "Your hands are freezing,"

"The heating was playing up," he explained. "What ya doing up early?"

He walked over and sat on a seat opposite me, he was wearing black striped pyjamas with grey socks.

"I got anxious about something from last night."

"You mean a dream?" 2D suggested.

"Sort of," I said, waving my hand in a motion meaning 'Not sure but you are correct'.

"What was it about?"

"You may not want to know, 2D," I said, feeling guilty I've said it.

He better not know that I have a secret crush on him. I've then suddenly remembered to ask him this question.

"Did you by any chance dream about me?" I held my breath.

"Yeah," He answered.

My heart sank. That's a coincidence.

"What happened?"

"Dunno but we were being stupid in an empty supermarket, I was pushing you in a trolley and then later on when we got 'ome… no, I don't want ta mention the next part, I got put off by it."

"I was like that as well." I mumbled.

"You dreamt about _me_ didn't ya?" he thought.

"Yes, exactly how you described yours but without the supermarket and trolley bit."

We just stared at each other for a couple of seconds. I drank up all my water without stopping then quickly put the glass by the sink.

"You in a rush or sumfink, are yer going anywhere?" said 2D worriedly.

"No, I wouldn't leave anyone alone." I said reassuringly.

2D stared down at the table surface, his head in his hands sighing.

"What's the matter?" I said, softly.

"I feel guilty," mumbled 2D. "Guilty of nearly mentioning the main part of my dream, the part you shouldn't know about, I f*****g hate myself these days, no wonder Murdoc 'ates me."

I bent down and wrapped my arm round his shoulders.

"I feel guilty as well, I shouldn't have spoken about it in the first place," I said rubbing his back to calm him down.

2D looked down at me, he was red in the face with anger but he was back to normal, he didn't even cry when I thought he was going to. He pulled me up so I ended up on his lap. The door was closed so that Murdoc wouldn't come along and embarrass us; the others were still in bed anyway.

"Simone, I know you're my friend and I've only just met you yesterday but, I just…I just," 2D trailed off anxiously. I can feel him shivering.

"Tell me anything, I don't mind." I said honestly.

"I just… feel like I need your company more often, your protection against Murdoc."

"Why's that? I asked curiously.

"Well, the thing is, I like you and you're the person who I can trust the most, I'm just so lonely, haven't had a girlfriend in years."

"I'm sorry," I said hugging him. "Hang on wait, what about Noo…"

"I know Noodle's my friend, she does keep me company once in a while, and everytime she's around, I'm like, 'No way'."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused.

"What I'm trying to say is that you would think that we are ideal but I'm thirty and she's seventeen, thirteen years apart,"

"I see what you mean." I said almost in a whisper.

"But when _you_ came along, I felt like there was a special bond between us like I was with Noods (I was more like a brother to her to be honest). I just, want to be with you more, between you and me only, do you mind us two being you know, more than friends?"

"What?"

2D leaned over and whispered the definition into my ear. When he finished saying it, I breathed nervously and I began to have butterflies in my stomach. He kept on whispering paranoid that someone was listening.

"We'll just stay as friends for a few days like four or seven,"

"What about two weeks, that's fourteen days, the thing is, we've only just met yesterday."

"Ok then, two weeks then I'll ask you on the fourteenth day."

I hesitated for a moment.

"What about just a week, like you said, fourteen days are too many,"

"Okay, I'll ask you next Monday."

"It's a deal." I said.

We both made a pinkie swear. _Buzzzzzz!_ My phone started to vibrate six times in a row.

"Excuse me," I said before picking it up.

It was my first text message and it was from the one I haven't met yet, Russel. 'Hi Sims, I'm outside your room, where r u? Russ.' I texted back saying 'I'm in the kitchen but I'll come back up. Simone. P.S. Call me Sims if u want but not Simzy!'

"Who was it?" asked 2D, I was hugging him when I was texting Russel and he couldn't see from behind me, I kept having this strange urge into kissing his cheek or neck but I'm not the type who does that to men who I've just met.

"Russel wants to see me; I've got to go again." I got up and left.

"See ya later, Simone." 2D said waving.

I walked quite quickly as if I was embarrassed walking around in my pyjamas but still, no one was around. I then walked slowly then stopped, I completely forgot something. It wasn't just my phone but something else important; I turned on the spot and walked back to the kitchen. 2D hadn't moved from his spot. He looked up and gave me an 'I knew you would come back' look. I stood in the doorway, almost forgetting about it. It was a question, two actually to ask 2D but what were they?

"I forgot to ask you something,"

"Take it away." He said smiling.

"Do you know if town's nearby?"

"Yes, it's just down the dual carriage way, why?"

"I need to get more clothes; do you want to come with me tomorrow?"

"Alright if you don't mind," he agreed. "Come 'ere fer one second."

I slowly walked up to him. 2D whispered

"I know it's a bit early but…" he pulled me close and said in my ear. "I have a stupid urge to kiss ya."

"Seriously," I said, blushing.

"You'll make me the 'appiest man ever if yer do."

We were then face to face; 2D got closer and closer every two seconds. I stopped him by putting a finger to his lips.

"I've never done this before," I said. "I'm sorry, I'm too scared."

"Yer don't have ta," said 2D. He grabbed my hand. "You believe in love at first sight don't ya?"

"I do." I said.

"Same, how about we give it another go when _no one's_ completely 'ere." He suggested.

"Ok." I said, almost reluctantly.

"Off yer go to see Russ then." He bent down and kissed my knuckles.

"Later." I said grinning, slipping out the kitchen once again.

I made sure the door was closed but open slightly, everyone might find it annoying opening it so I left it there. Halfway down, I heard a chair move, a sliding door opening (two seconds passed) and then a lighter and the door closing. I rolled my eyes and smiled, I don't care when it comes to finding out people smoke, unless they are very young like twelve or thirteen. 2D doesn't know I'm asthmatic, if we're in town and he decides to get a cigarette out, I would stop him but he'll think I'm forcing him to quit. Murdoc smokes more about ten or fifteen a day, he always looks out for me so he makes sure that he gets rid of it and of the strong fumes, I saw him do it once back at the 'house of doom', he was smoking in the back garden then he started walking around doing nothing whilst spraying some breath freshener in his mouth before he got himself into trouble and was sent to my room. Those were the good days when it was supposed to be the bad days, but with Murdoc I think it was quite unexpected. I walked down the endless corridors, this is the best day of my life so far, apart from reuniting with Murdoc but about 2D, I've found that he has a crush on _me_ and already he's asking me to be his girlfriend! Well, it may _not_ be a crush; I don't want to see him getting panicked. He said it's between himself and me but I'm going to get anxious in future, Murdoc will be jealous and miserable because I'll hardly be with him, Noodle will be jealous because she's been friends with 2D since she started Gorillaz, she might hate us if she saw us kissing, I bet Russel wouldn't mind, he might not have a care in the world. This is what I'm going to say once and once only: I love 2D (_already!_). I had an urge to say it again but the words were buzzing in my ears as if someone was whispering to me a million times. I wonder what Murdoc would think about mine and 2D's relationship.

I was nearly there. I was going to meet the last member of the band. I still feel embarrassed wearing Noodle's old night stuff, I've never worn second hand clothes before. I can suddenly imagine Noodle wearing my favourite coat (the one I wore when I got here); the clothes that I've currently got are a tiny bit dirty after being in the crate. I don't know why I should wait another twenty four hours to go clothes shopping, I should of invited Noodle and gone today. But ignoring 2D wouldn't be my plan; if he _did_ come, he might start blushing with embarrassment when he follows me to the girls section of the shop (if you know what I mean by that). I could ask Noodle after I've seen Russel, but I thought maybe not quite yet, it's too early, she might be still sleeping. I slowly went round the last corner and there he was, Russel. He was leaning against his bedroom door fully dressed. He had his eyes glued to his phone like he was texting a hundred people all at once. I kept on walking until I was four to six paces away from him.

"Hi Russel," I said.

Russel frantically put his phone in his jeans pocket as if he was keeping something private from me.

"Oh hey, your Murdoc's lil sis,"

"Yes, it's Simone," I said timidly. "You needed to see me didn't you? Are you alright waking up at this time of morning? 2D's up as well, he's downstairs"

"Yeah, I'm cool with that," said Russel. I leaned on the wall next to him. "I wanted to see you so we can get to know each other."

"Yeah, you're the drummer aren't you?"

"How did you know that?"

"Noodle," I said proudly.

"She must have told you last night." he thought.

"She did," I corrected him. "By the way if you were wondering, if you think that I'm going to like, you know, act like Murdoc and stuff, you would be wrong."

"I wasn't really expecting you to be really different from him, I thought you were going to be all tough, argumentative, drink alcohol and be a chain smoker."

"I don't drink at all," I stated. "I tried a tiny bit before and I almost felt ill, and I don't smoke, I'm asthmatic. I'm not really that argumentative, I do get frustrated a little due to any term because I'm mildly autistic and I'm really against violence and I never ever use bad language, but me and Murdoc have a lot in common."

"So who do you take after?" said Russel, he was desperate to get all the information into his head.

"My mum," I mumbled. "I hate her so much because she abandoned me to move house."

"Do you miss her?" he asked.

"Never, I don't even want to see her face again, she's in Scotland anyway, thank goodness for that."

"Sorry about that, I'll change the subject."

There was a little silence, strangely, we saw Noodle come past with a small pile of stuff. I gave her a little wave; she smiled because she had her hands full. She looked up at Russel and opened her mouth to speak but he was on his phone again but he grinned too, she walked past us and then suddenly walked into _my_ room. What on earth was she up to? I hope it wasn't something that she's planning, I don't mean that she's planning to not be my friend anymore, then I had a horrid thought. What if she heard me and 2D's conversation earlier and is planning to separate us? If he becomes my boyfriend in just a week's time, fingers crossed that she wouldn't mind. She strolled out my door and closed it slowly as if someone in there was fast asleep. She went into the direction of her room but I jogged to catch her up.

"Noodle, can I ask you something," I said.

"Ok then." she said.

Her voice was a bit croaky because she might have woken up.

"Do you want to come with me and 2D to town tomorrow? I need some fresh clothes."

"Oh definitely," she said delighted. "Why wait another day? We can always give you hand-me-downs."

"Hand-me-downs, what are they?"

"Oh you know second hand things." she explained.

"Oh, sorry I just blanked out there." I said, slapping my forehead.

"Of course we can go tomorrow," said Noodle. "Have you asked Murdoc-san permission?"

"No, I only thought about it today, and had just asked 2D about it."

"You can him ask later then, by the way are you hungry? Russel-san said it was my turn to make a Japanese breakfast today."

"No thanks I'm not that starving." I said trying to _not_ make it an excuse.

"Are you sure? Murdoc-san might worry about your appetite."

"Noodle, I'm not going to starve myself, you Silly Billy." I giggled tapping the middle of Noodle's forehead.

Thank goodness she laughed. It's a first that someone laughed about my jokes. I know she's still a teenager but it's good to make her day.

"Do you want anything or not?" she grinned.

"Alright yes please, I'm saying that cos you're my best friend, is there any meat in it? If so, don't put any in, I'm not really a meat eater myself."

"No, there is not any meat, 2D's vegetarian as well, there is going to be Miso Soup, Tamagoyaki and Onsen Tomago, I will tell you when it is ready, bye."

And with that she left. I then remembered that Russel was going to change the conversation. I tapped him on the arm.

"Sorry about that, you were going to talk about something weren't you?"

I believed that I was never going to guess what he was going to ask me next or end up having to talk about his life. I don't mind listening to life stories; I've listened to a quarter of 2D's life, a tiny section from Murdoc and a small amount from Noodle. Does this mean that I have to tell everyone _my_ life story?

"Actually, I'll wait, you go get changed." said Russel.

"Okay then." I said unsure.

I went to the door and opened it curiously as if something scary was in there. I slipped in, turned the light on and locked the door, the room was normal like when I left it. The stuff that Noodle was carrying was on my bed, there were some red and white and navy blue, then there was a little square of white on top of the pile. I dashed to the bed immediately. Why couldn't Noodle just tell me instead of write to me? I don't blame her though. I unfolded the note, it was written in her neatest English writing. I thought she was going to write in Japanese because I understood the language, but I only knew the words not the symbols. I need to get Noodle to teach me them. The note read:

_Simone-san,_

_I just wanted to make a quick note about why I delivered this pile of clothes (hand-me-downs) to your room. 2D-san and I decided to give you these before you go out to get more clothes. I am giving you my jeans and my hooded jumper that are both too big for me and 2D-san has found an old shirt of his that was too small. I am glad you have become my best friend; I was almost getting bored of being the only girl in Kong. 2D has been acting strange recently; do you know anything about it?_

_Noodle. P.S. 2D says hi._

I smiled and folded the paper up. I put it secretly in my drawer; it will be something I will cherish forever. I never noticed 2D acting differently, he was normal when he came into the kitchen this morning. The time has gone ten minutes past eight; Russel might be waiting for me still. I quickly got undressed and put my new clothes on; I had to keep my old underwear on. I gazed into the mirror on my desk. I'm only wearing the jeans and shirt. I looked fantastic, a new me. They all fit me perfectly; the jeans were the colour of navy blue, the skinny ones that a lot of girls on the street are wearing. The short sleeved shirt was plain white with thick black lines round the edges of the sleeves and at the very bottom of the shirt, it was a bit boyish but who cares? But it has reached past my waist and the sleeves were nearly touching my elbows. I turned round to check if there wasn't anything idiotic on the back. All it had was the number eight in white writing in a black filled circle. It was the eight ball, the luckiest ball in a game of pool and snooker. I thought that was very sweet of them two to do that, I'm glad to have them as friends (even though I just befriended them yesterday). I was just about to walk out when I suddenly forgot two things. My phone was still in the pocket of my dressing gown and I was still wearing my slipper socks, never mind, can't be helped. I also just realized that the shirt was the wrong way round, seeing as I saw the label at the front. Any moment now Russel would be wondering what I'm up to, I would never guess what he'll predict. I've got four new messages and they're from everyone, they were all sent today! Maybe they all texted me when I was out of sight, even Russel, Noodle and 2D. The first text was from Russel which said 'Hurry up I'm falling asleep.' Then put a smiley face at the end. He just sent that right this second. Noodle sent me the second one, 'I am in the kitchen bored, bored and really bored, what do I do?' I sent one back saying 'Go to sleep.' with a smiley face. I went to read Murdoc's text but was interrupted because Noodle had already replied back saying 'LOL, you are funny.' (If you don't know it stands for 'Laugh Out Loud'). Murdoc didn't even give me a proper message. All he sent me was "greiofro43r4h8th48th5" and I answered by writing three question marks. 2D's text was the last to read, I suddenly felt excited about what he has said, and I'm also very excited about becoming his future girlfriend. The sixteen year old from the skate park two years ago was a nightmare; he wasn't even that good looking anyway and not my type of guy. I read the text slowly in case I accidently read the important information like I always do before reading a paragraph. It said 'Still on the balcony downstairs, meet me out there in five mins.' I replied saying 'Ok'. I think Murdoc found 2D and reminded him about my asthma. He might be saying wait for five minutes for the air to clear or something. Then automatically he sent another text saying he was changing his mind because Noodle was in the kitchen and might get curious, he said I had to come with him after breakfast. And with that, I closed the message and carried on what I was doing.

Russel had just finished texting when I finally came out, I had to change my socks, put my Ugg boots on and put my jumper on because it was getting chilly, it suited me a bit, and it was light grey one of my favourite colours.

"What took you so long, man?" asked Russel.

"I went to get my phone and had to read some text messages." I said truthfully.

"As I was going to say," he explained. "Murdoc last night couldn't stop going on about you, he was practically telling some sort of life story about you, and he also said that you had some talent."

I knew Murdoc was going to say that, maybe I should keep two of my talents a secret. Wait…. he doesn't even know that I have talent.

"Well, I do a bit of skateboarding and I can sort of do street and break dancing, without the flips."

"Where did you go to learn that stuff?" asked Russel, astonished.

"Skateboarding, well, I couldn't do it at first and then all of a sudden I had a strange flashback of seeing other skateboarders then I ended up doing all the tricks without falling off once, that was two years ago."

"What about the dancing?"

"Taught myself, it's been a while since I done all that,"

"I like a bit of hip hop myself, well technically the music, in my teen years, I was enrolled at Brooklyn High School where I was first inspired by all this, there were MC's, DJ's, rappers, street dancers you name it, they were all there."

Later on, he told me a sad moment when his friends got shot in a drive by shooting; he was mainly upset about his close friend Del who was a rapper. The question that was on his lips was: Why didn't the bullets hit him? Apparently, their ghosts are now taking up residence in his body making his eyes go blank and had giving him the skills of a professional drummer. For one moment I thought they were some sort of contact lenses, that's what I thought when I saw 2D! Then he told me that his parents shipped him off here to live with his uncle somewhere in Belsize Park for safety. He got a job at some place, I forgot what it was and one day, it turned out that Murdoc was looking for a drummer because he already had 2D for the singer/keyboardist. He said that he walked in and went up to the counter and asked for this record of some sort and when Russel wasn't looking, he threw a bag over his head and kidnapped him just like that. He was very mad at him but then gave in when he was being persuaded into staying and to be in Gorillaz.

"You have to show me some of your moves later on; I want to see what you've got." said Russel after half a minute.

"I'm not sure," I said. "It's been years and years and I don't know a lot of moves but I'll try."

"That's my girl." he said, clapping me on the back.

I wonder how he would react when he sees that I can't do a single back flip. I can do the splits, but the problem is that once I've done it, I can't get up. I can do a bit of robotic movements and so many more; I've even invented new moves that have inspired me in dreams. Then my mind went elsewhere and went deep into thought thinking about 2D.

_I would be in his room dancing to some 80's classics whilst he sat on his bed and watched, keeping his eyes on me at all times just as he went and locked the door. Then he turned the volume down a bit due to the fact that he gets headaches like he mentioned when I was still in the crate. From next door (the car park), there was a loud sound of tyres screeching as Murdoc, Noodle and Russel sped away in the Geep leaving us two alone in Kong. As soon as the sound faded away, 2D stood up and grabbed my shoulders and got as close as he can to me. "You're with me now, my special girl." he said softly in my ear. Our lips were nearly touching when I whispered "I'm with you always." Then without starting the kiss, 2D reversed and sat on the bed, I sat on his lap facing him, and then we took five seconds until we did. _

"It is ready guys." said Noodle who strangely appeared from nowhere.

"Coming," I said, rushing up to walk with her.

Russel said he will be down in a minute because he had to get a different shirt on. He had the same one on since last night. Noodle didn't complain. She was too busy chatting and giggling with me.

I had finished my Miso Soup in exactly four and a half minutes. It was not too hot for me but both Noodle and 2D kept burning their tongues and taking huge sips of drink. Russel was beating me chewing his way through the Tamagoyaki (that and the Onsen Tomago are both from egg if you wanted to know). Murdoc didn't have anything but a slice of dry toast, he had his head in a book that he was halfway through, I couldn't see what the title was because he had it on the table, I watched as he quickly mouthed each word in its pages, his finger pointing to the line he is currently reading on. He _did_ say 'hi' to me when he saw me with Noodle (I quickly asked him about going to town with 2D and Noodle and he said 'yes' and murmured something about not trusting 2D in looking after us), she sighed and smiled at me, she thinks I'm really lucky to have a celebrity brother. Noodle became a celebrity at a very young age and she seems very proud of it, 2D became one at twenty, quite young! I just wonder how the Gorillaz get used to all the fame, they have fans around the world, I should be famous next cos I'm Murdoc's sister, do brothers or sisters of celebrities count as one? I can suddenly imagine my face in the newspaper. I do know it can be tough to be a celebrity, you have to go to many concerts and tours, you're never at home and everytime you're in public places, fans are desperate for your autograph and the 'paparazzi' sometimes pop up randomly taking pictures for no entire reason and they choose the best one for the papers or for the internet for the world to look at. But then I got a bit scared. There are fans of 2D, the fan girls will hate me so much (if I _was_ in the band) because I'm in love with him, and they might hate him because he loves me. If there were any videos of me on that website called YouTube, people will write comments saying stuff like 'Simone is an idiot, a freak and a creep no wonder she hasn't got any friends'. If the men out there loved me, they would end up putting inappropriate stuff on the pictures of me. Again with the paranoid thoughts, all that time, I had eaten my Tamagoyaki without even thinking. I bet that you have to get used to these things these days.

Someone nudged me hard on my right then there was a nudge from my left, a little too late from the first nudge, it was Russel and Noodle who was sitting beside me.

"What's taking you so long, man?" Russel asked. "We're all finished and your face was almost going into your food."

"For your information," I said to him. "I randomly went into a different world of mine."

"Of bunnies and pixie dust I presume." said Murdoc, not looking up from his book and finishing the last of his toast.

2D and Noodle with a mouthful of food couldn't stop giggling.

"No Murdoc..." I corrected him.

"I usually think about future events." mumbled 2D, poking a small amount of Onsen Tomago with a fork.

"Why do you keep doing that?" I asked.

"What?" he said, shrugging his shoulders as if he was getting blamed for no reason, I couldn't tell by the look in his dark eyes whether he was rolling them or staring wide eyed.

"You always think what I'm thinking." I said, finishing off my last dish and saying thanks to Noodle, she smiled and went onto clearing the table.

"I'll do it." said me and 2D in unison.

We stared at each other strangely; Murdoc sighed, closed his book and left saying bye to me only, I replied back. Russel followed him saying thanks to Noodle. She was still in the same position, holding onto a big pile of plates for dear life. When the door was closed, I spoke up.

"I told you, you done it again." I said trying not to sound horrible.

"I can't 'elp it, can I?" moaned 2D, hands firmly on the table.

"I-I know that," I said panicked. "It's all a coincidence." I turned to Noodle. "2D's helping you, I'm going."

I walked off without looking back to see them staring at me, I was _that_ close to falling out with 2D. Why? We can't just make a deal on going out with each other at the end of the week then giving up and become enemies. I suddenly imagined Noodle smashing a plate on the floor, on the table, on 2D's head yelling at him about what he had done wrong. But I knew she wouldn't do a thing. I don't know what's happening to me, first off I was really happy to soon get my first love, then I was fine when I deleted Steven's number but now I'm scared that he will either call me back or track me down and take me back to Staffordshire. I don't want that to happen, if it did I will never see the Gorillaz again.

"Simone, wait for me." called 2D, jogging up to me.

"Whatever it is, I'm sorry of what I said, I shouldn't have said it."

"No it's about something else, we need ta talk."

He grabbed hold of my hand without even getting embarrassed and took me down the endless corridors. I never knew what could happen; I had a bad feeling inside just because of the look on 2D's face.


End file.
